Introduction to the Rumors Surrounding Elon Musk

Did Ashley St. Clair, a prominent MAGA influencer who claims Elon Musk is the father of her child, verify the rumors that the billionaire underwent a "botched" penis enlargement surgery? A screenshot of a tweet circulating on social media appears to support this claim, but it has been found to be completely fake.

The Origin of the Fake Tweet

The tweet in question seems to have been created by an account on X called @marionumber4, which is currently named 679 Enthusiast. This pseudonymous account has a history of generating fake "deleted" tweets from right-wing figures like Musk, Candace Owens, and Grimes. The account’s creator has previously confirmed to Gizmodo that they produce these fake tweets.

Image: Fake tweet purporting to be about a botched penis surgery.

The Mechanism of Fake News

By adding the phrase "this post was deleted" to the bottom of the fake tweet, it misleads readers into thinking that attempting to find the tweet on the person’s timeline would be futile. This tactic is often used by hoaxsters to create fake viral tweets. However, accounts like @marionumber4 have been doing this for so long that it’s easy to identify their handiwork by checking with known photoshopping suspects whenever one of these tweets circulates online.

The Role of AI in Fact-Checking

As the fake tweet spreads beyond the original creator’s circles, people begin to wonder if it’s real. X users can now ask Grok, a real-time AI fact-checker, about the veracity of various tweets. When a user asked Grok if the tweet was real, they received an interesting reply. Grok mentioned that Ashley St. Clair likely broke a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) by posting about Elon Musk’s "botched penis," given their relationship and typical NDA use. However, this reference to an NDA appears to be a joke, and neither Musk nor St. Clair has publicly discussed such an agreement.

The Limitations of Generative AI

This incident highlights a significant flaw in technology with generative AI: if you feed it enough false information, you’ll only get garbage back. X, the platform where this tweet originated, has become a hub of misinformation and extremist activity since Musk’s takeover in 2022. The tweet from St. Clair is fake, but the underlying claim about Musk’s supposed botched penis surgery remains harder to debunk.

Investigating the Claim

Snopes investigated the claim in February when it first surfaced but couldn’t find a definitive answer. One of the claims about Musk getting a penile implant appears to have originated from X user Cloning Hour on February 20. Musician Azealia Banks, who has a history of feuding with Grimes and Musk, mentioned that Grimes told her about the claim. While this claim is easy to dismiss as a joke, it has been used to explain why Musk has had many children through IVF.

Elon Musk’s Family and IVF

Musk has at least 14 children, and most were conceived through IVF. His daughter Vivian, who is estranged from her father since coming out as trans, has written on Threads that Musk uses IVF to ensure he gets a male child. She stated that her assigned gender at birth was a commodity that could be purchased and paid for, and she was defying the advertised product when she discovered she was transgender.

Conclusion

While the tweet going viral about Ashley St. Clair’s claim is fake, the rumors surrounding Elon Musk’s supposed penis surgery remain unverified. Efforts to reach Musk through his companies X and Tesla did not receive a reply, and Gizmodo will update this post if they hear back. The ambiguity surrounding this issue highlights the challenges of verifying information in the age of social media and generative AI.