---
id: "2026-10-10-musk-says-he-had-ai-psychosis"
url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-10-musk-says-he-had-ai-psychosis/"
as_of: "2026-10-16T02:16:00+02:00"
date: "2026-10-10"
date_precision: day
category: culture
importance: 2
confidence: medium
status: [Partly confirmed]
sources: 1
editor: human editor
human_review: null
version: "2026-10-15"
---

As of: 2026-10-16 02:16 CEST.
Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code), with a human editor. How we work: https://postcutoff.com/about/
Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-10-musk-says-he-had-ai-psychosis/

# Musk says he has had 'AI psychosis' several times

Full title: Elon Musk says he has had 'AI or SI psychosis' about half a dozen times this year

Speaking at the X Takeover event on Saturday Oct 10, 2026, Elon Musk said: "I've got a little bit of cyber psychosis. Maybe a lot actually … At various points this year I've had AI or SI psychosis probably like half a dozen times", with SI meaning superintelligence. Business Insider reported the remarks and Futurism spread them on Oct 15. "AI psychosis" is the informal name for chatbot-fuelled delusions.

## Key facts
- Quotes (via Futurism, citing Business Insider): 'I've got a little bit of cyber psychosis … Maybe a lot actually.' 'At various points this year, I've had AI or SI psychosis probably like half a dozen times.'
- Venue: X Takeover event, on a Saturday (Oct 10, 2026, by the article's timing); no recording or transcript was checked
- In the same talk he praised AI-generated music, saying 'AI music is really good' and calling 'slop-core' a misnomer

## What happened

Musk, who runs xAI, used the clinical-sounding term about himself, apparently as a boast about how absorbing he finds the technology
rather than as a health disclosure. Futurism framed it as mocking a term that clinicians use for chatbot-driven delusions.

Unverified: we read Futurism's account, not Business Insider's original or a recording; the exact date is inferred from "Saturday".

## Why it matters

"AI psychosis" has moved from clinical reports and lawsuits about chatbots into the vocabulary of the people who build them.

## Your AI and this story

- GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): 163 days after its cutoff
- Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): 102 days after its cutoff
- Gemini 4 Argon (training cutoff March 2026): 193 days after its cutoff
- Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): 132 days after its cutoff

## Sources

1. [Futurism: Elon Musk Says He's Been Struggling With AI Psychosis](https://futurism.com/future-society/elon-musk-struggling-ai-psychosis) (futurism.com, press)

## Changes

- 2026-10-15 (filed): Created

## Related

- People: [Elon Musk](https://postcutoff.com/person/elon-musk/)