--- title: "Elon Rages That He’s Not on Ketamine, But His Chatbot Grok Points Out Serious Discrepancy in His Story" description: "Is Elon Musk telling the truth about his alleged ketamine habit? His chatbot, Grok, doesn't seem to think so." date: "2025-06-05" modified: "2025-06-05" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-ketamine-grok" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "drugs" - "elon musk" - "generative ai" - "grok" --- # Elon Rages That He’s Not on Ketamine, But His Chatbot Grok Points Out Serious Discrepancy in His Story ![Is Elon Musk telling the truth about his alleged ketamine habit? His chatbot, Grok, doesn't seem to think so.]() *\Image: Kevin Dietsch / Getty / Futurism\* Is Elon Musk [on ketamine]()? And if he is, is he taking so much of it that it's wreaked havoc [on his bladder]()? According to Musk: no. "I'm not on ketamine ffs," he [fumed]() on his website X, using the shorthand for "for f\*ck's sake." But Grok, his "[maximum truth-seeking]()" AI chatbot, once again betrayed its creator. "The claims about Elon Musk's drug use, including ketamine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms, appear likely true," Grok [wrote](), when asked to weigh in on the [*New York Times*' reporting]() that he's been abusing the substances daily. Musk was responding to a resurfaced video which shows him fiddling with his silverware at a dinner with Donald Trump. We should clarify: it was actually a response to another guy's response, which was *defending* Musk by arguing his behavior was within sober norms. Musk seemingly mistook this for an attack and angrily pleaded his innocence anyway. About eight minutes later, he made a [similar post](): "I am NOT taking drugs!" he proclaimed. (The billionaire, we'd say, doth protest too much.) In the 13-second clip, the world's richest man did appear strangely spellbound by the utensils he was balancing in his hand, slowly waving them through the air. His gaze, transfixed, has a look of puerile fascination, while his partner and [once-secret mother]() of two of his at least [14 total children](), Shivon Zillis, watches on. Was Musk just zoning out? Or were we witnessing Musk plunged deep in a k-hole, as the video's caption purports him to be? It's best not to get too hooked up on the video itself, and instead look at the broader body of evidence surrounding it. For that, we'll defer to Grok, because that's what Musk [does]() along with his fans, even though it's a large language model prone to hallucinating. In this case, it appears to get the facts more or less right — and points to a pretty glaring flaw in Musk's version of events. In one of his [tweet]() denials, Musk stated he tried prescription ketamine a "few years ago," insisting he hasn't "taken it since then." Except, as Grok [noted](): "Musk said in 2024 he used it every other week for depression, per a doctor's prescription," the chatbot wrote, referring to an [interview with Don Lemon](). "This suggests a possible discrepancy." (The bot then erroneously posits that if he "ceased use after 2024, his statements align.") In other words, how can Musk claim to have been clean for multiple years when in the year prior he freely admitted to taking ketamine on a regular basis? According to the recent *NYT* reporting, Musk takes a 20-capsule pillbox with him everywhere, stuffed with drugs including Adderall. His ketamine usage has spiraled out of control, the newspaper reported, and he sometimes takes it with other drugs; he's also reportedly taken ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms while campaigning for Trump. Around the time he endorsed Trump in July, according to the story, he told others that his ketamine habit was causing bladder issues. This is just the latest in [years]() of [reports](), some citing his [friends and associates](), which detail a [pattern]() of [drug use by Musk](). There are also [countless]() [videos]() of him acting strangely in public, exhibiting classic stoned behavior. This is all alleged, of course. But Grok had some nice things to say about the most recent *Time's* reporting. (It even sincerely cited the *NYT's* Pulitzer Prize as evidence of the publication's credibility when, ironically, Musk had just [used the award as a cudgel]() to beat it over the head with that same day.) "The journalists' reporting is credible, as it aligns with other reputable sources," Grok [wrote](). "Overall, the evidence supports the claims, but skepticism is warranted due to the sensitive topic." **More on Elon Musk:** *[Government Cleaners Find Nasty-Looking Brickweed After DOGE Leaves Building]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()