A new documentary about Elon Musk uses an artificial intelligence avatar to conduct a simulated interview with the SpaceX and Tesla chief, built entirely from genuine statements he has made.
Speaking in Venice on Tuesday before the project’s world premiere, filmmaker Alex Gibney described the choice as intentionally ironic.
The technique references Musk’s theory that life is a simulation while poking at his shifting perspectives on technology. Gibney noted the goal was to capture the “reality of what he’s done and unreality of his narrative.”
The filmmakers secured legal approval before fully committing to using the Musk avatar.
At the Venice Film Festival, the Oscar-winning director was joined by Ashley St. Clair, a former conservative influencer featured in the project who shares a child with Musk. She speaks about their history, his character, and her choice to reject a nondisclosure agreement meant to secure child support.
St. Clair was asked at a press conference why she agreed to be part of the documentary.
“I was offered the opportunity not to speak for $40 million,” she said. “When you’re offered something like that, it causes a debate in your head about what your speech means and how valuable that is. Why do they want to offer me this amount of money not to speak?”
She continued, “And I believe Alex spoke to it a little bit, about Elon’s unreality. He does have complicated relationships generally, but his most complicated relationship is with the truth. And so, I think most importantly, I want to set the example for my kids that you should never take being materially comfortable over speaking the truth.”
St. Clair previously took legal action against Musk’s AI company this year, alleging its Grok chatbot enabled users to generate sexually explicit deepfakes of her that resulted in humiliation and emotional distress.
The documentary explores Musk’s takeover of X and what Gibney describes as algorithmic manipulation.
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“One thing that I didn’t properly understand when I started the film was how Musk tweaked algorithms at Twitter to, in fact, prioritize vitriol and hate over, you know, the town square,” Gibney said.
Reporter Zoë Schiffer, who is interviewed in the film, added that “he has tweaked the algorithm, both to suppress mainstream journalism and then to augment some of the more inflammatory comments and voices on that platform.”
St. Clair warned that he is “causing deliberate division that could be catastrophic if it’s not regulated or contained.”
Spanning nearly four hours, Musk explores his difficult childhood—featuring an interview with his father, Errol Musk—and follows his trajectory from Silicon Valley to his DOGE assignment with the second Donald Trump administration and his international political activity. Gibney explained the project was intended to be much shorter until Musk integrated himself into Trump’s campaign.
Interviews include Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, his first wife Justine Musk, neurologist Sam Harris, tech journalist Kara Swisher and former USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
Gibney considers Musk “extremely” dangerous to democracy. Releasing in theaters this October, the documentary raises concerns regarding the information collected on U.S. citizens by the “DOGE boys” through their broad access to government agencies.