Aug 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday denied

Elon Musk's bid to dismiss OpenAI's claims of a "years-long

harassment campaign" by the Tesla CEO against the company he

co-founded in 2015 and later abandoned before ChatGPT became a

global phenomenon.

In the latest turn in a court battle that kicked off last

year, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk

must face OpenAI's claims that the billionaire, through press

statements, social media posts, legal claims and "a sham bid for

OpenAI's assets" had attempted to harm the AI startup.

Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman last year over the

company's transition to a for-profit model, accusing the company

of straying from its founding mission of developing AI for the

good of humanity, not profit.

OpenAI countersued Musk in April, accusing the billionaire

of engaging in fraudulent business practices under California

law. Musk then asked for OpenAI's counterclaims to be dismissed

or delayed until a later stage in the case.

OpenAI argued in May its countersuit should not be put on

hold, and the judge on Tuesday concluded that the company's

allegations were legally sufficient to proceed.

A jury trial has been scheduled for spring 2026.