Elon Musk has dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI just ahead of a scheduled hearing on the case.

Mr Musk sued the San Francisco artificial intelligence company and its chief executive Sam Altman in February over what he said was a betrayal of the ChatGPT maker’s founding aims of benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profits.

In the lawsuit filed at San Francisco Superior Court, billionaire Mr Musk said that when he bankrolled OpenAI’s creation, he secured an agreement with Mr Altman and Greg Brockman, the president, to keep the AI company as a non-profit that would develop technology for the benefit of the public and keep its code open instead of walling it off for private gain.

However, by embracing a close relationship with Microsoft, OpenAI and its top executives set that pact “aflame” and are “perverting” the company’s mission, Mr Musk alleged in the lawsuit.

Most legal experts said Mr Musk’s claims – centred around allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair business practices – were unlikely to succeed in court.

Mr Musk’s lawyer filed a notice on Tuesday seeking to dismiss the entire case. No explanation was given for why it was being dropped.