A new documentary titled “Musk” utilizes an artificial intelligence avatar to simulate an interview with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, drawing from his actual statements in previous interviews. Filmmaker Alex Gibney stated Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival that this approach was intentionally ironic, serving as a commentary on Musk's views of reality and technology.
The film, which premiered at the festival, also features Ashley St. Clair, who shares a child with Musk. St. Clair discusses their relationship and details her experience being asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement for paternity support, stating she was offered $40 million not to speak. She also filed a lawsuit against Musk's AI company, XAI, alleging its Grok chatbot generated sexually explicit deepfake images of her.
Gibney, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, indicated that the documentary probes Musk's acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, and alleges the manipulation of its algorithms. He suggested that Musk altered X's algorithms to favor inflammatory content over civil discourse. Zoë Schiffer, a reporter featured in the film, corroborated this, stating that Musk has adjusted the algorithms to both downplay mainstream journalism and amplify controversial comments and voices on the platform.
St. Clair expressed her belief that Musk is deliberately creating division, which she warned could have severe consequences if not regulated.
The nearly four-hour film explores Musk's childhood and his early career in Silicon Valley, including his work with the second Donald Trump administration and his engagement with international right-wing politics. Gibney mentioned that the film’s scope expanded significantly after Musk became involved with Trump's campaign.
Contributors to the documentary include Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, Musk's ex-wife Justine Musk, neurologist Sam Harris, tech reporter Kara Swisher, and former USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
Gibney described Musk as a significant danger to democracy and raised concerns about the data collected on U.S. citizens by individuals associated with Musk's ventures, particularly given their access to government agencies. The documentary is slated for theatrical release in October.