Musk's OpenAI lawsuit is 'good advertisement for the benefit of Elon Musk' but may have little legal merit

When it comes to legal disputes, Elon Musk's definition of victory may not always be winning in court.

Last week, Musk sued OpenAI and co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman for breach of contract and fiduciary duty. Experts say the case is built on a questionable legal foundation, because the contract at the heart of the suit isn't a formal written agreement that was signed by all parties involved.

Rather, Musk is alleging that the early OpenAI team had set out to develop artificial general intelligence, or AGI, "for the benefit of humanity," but that the project has been transformed into a for-profit entity that's largely controlled by principal shareholder Microsoft.

Musk used much of the 35-page complaint (plus attached exhibits) on Friday to tell his side of the story and to remind the world of his central position in the creation of a company that's since become one of the hottest startups on the planet, (OpenAI ranked first on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list in 2023) thanks largely to the viral spread of ChatGPT.

"It's certainly a good advertisement for the benefit of Elon Musk," Kevin O'Brien, partner at Ford O'Brien Landy LLP and former assistant U.S. attorney, told CNBC. "I'm not sure about the legal part though."

O'Brien, who isn't involved in any cases with Musk, added, "One thing that jumped right out at me is there's no contract."

In the suit, Musk's lawyers say they want OpenAI to return to its work as a research lab and no longer exist for the "financial benefit" of Microsoft. Musk, who's worth over $200 billion, is unconcerned about the legal costs of floating a suit that has no clear personal economic benefit and is of questionable merit.

Shannon Capone Kirk, global head of e-discovery and AI for Ropes & Gray LLP,