--- title: "Elon Musk Gets Rattled by Hard Questions He Can’t Answer, Calls Interviewer an “NPC” While Giving One-Word NPC-Like Responses Himself" description: "Billionaire Elon Musk made a bafflingly childish appearance this week at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar." date: "2025-05-21" modified: "2025-05-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-interviewer-npc" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "doge" - "elon musk" - "tesla" --- # Elon Musk Gets Rattled by Hard Questions He Can’t Answer, Calls Interviewer an “NPC” While Giving One-Word NPC-Like Responses Himself ![Billionaire Elon Musk made a bafflingly childish appearance this week at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar.]() *\Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images\* Billionaire Elon Musk made a [bafflingly childish]() appearance this week at *Bloomberg*'s Qatar Economic Forum. While being asked some hard — but entirely fair — questions by UK broadcaster Mishal Husain, covering topics such as his highly questionable work at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the massive hits Tesla has taken as a result, and the glaring conflict of interests facing his space venture SpaceX, Musk appeared to be completely unprepared. At multiple points during the interview, Musk lashed out at Husain, accusing her of being an "NPC," which is gamer lingo for a "non-playable character," and refusing to give her more than one-word answers. After Husain pointed out DOGE has [fallen extremely short of Musk's goal]() of slashing $2 trillion from the government's budget, the mercurial CEO had a bizarre retort. "I mean, I feel you’re somewhat trapped in the NPC dialogue tree of a traditional journalist," he said. "So it’s difficult when I’m conversing with someone who’s trapped in the dialogue tree of a conventional journalist because it’s like talking to a computer." That was a particularly eyebrow-raising line given that Musk [has built a multibillion-dollar business around]() mindlessly talking to computers via xAI, his company that offers a chatbot called Grok. And in reality, he's getting the dynamic backwards. It's the AI chatbots, not the human journalists, that [tend to grovel at the feet of users]() and cave at virtually any sign of confrontation. As such, the interview perfectly summarizes Musk's distorted worldview and disconnection from reality. Critics have long pointed out that the billionaire has [surrounded himself with sycophants]() who rarely say no to him, meaning that he's increasingly started to crumble under pressure when faced with difficult questions. Now that his popularity has [fallen off a cliff]() following a bewildering embrace of far-right viewpoints over the last few years, Musk finds himself on the back foot. And considering his petulant appearance this week, he's clearly still struggling to take accountability for his incredibly damaging actions. Instead, Musk tried to paint himself as the victim. "Massive violence was threatened against me," he told her, referring to the [international anti-Tesla movement]() his actions have given rise to. "Who are these people? Why would they do that? How wrong can they be? They’re on the wrong side of history." Unsurprisingly, the billionaire used the interview to further a widely discredited conspiracy theory about a "white genocide" occurring in South Africa. That's a topic his chatbot Grok [squeezed into unrelated answer**s**]() last week [following a bizarre "unauthorized modification]()" being made to its underlying tech. "Why do you like racist laws?" Musk probed Husain, squarely pointing at her through the camera after interrupting her, leading to nervous laughter at the event. Musk's relationship with journalists has been rocky, to say the least. Earlier this year, he [called]() *Wall Street Journal* reporter Katherine Long a "disgusting and cruel person" after she [found]() that he had armed an underqualified 25-year-old to infiltrate the US Treasury's payments system. Later that month, he [called for *CBS News* journalists]() to get a "long prison sentence" for being the "biggest liars in the world." Musk has made it clear that he's in no mood for constructive conversation. The self-avowed free speech absolutist has a long track record of [suspending journalists]() critical of him on his social media platform X-formerly-Twitter. During his descent into the far right, Musk has convinced himself that the so-called "woke" media has had it out for him, despite repeatedly furthering easily disproven conspiracy theories and spreading disinformation himself. **More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk Says Being Tesla CEO Might Kill Him]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()