Alex Gibney premieres four-hour documentary on Elon Musk at Venice Film Festival

Premiere and project scope

Director Alex Gibney screened his nearly four-hour documentary "Musk" out of competition at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday. The 72-year-old filmmaker, who won an Academy Award in 2007 for "Taxi to the Dark Side", spent three years compiling interviews, archival materials, and corporate records tracking Elon Musk from his dotcom start-ups to his current political alliances. Because Musk declined interview requests, the production uses an artificial intelligence avatar programmed with verbatim past statements to simulate responses. Gibney reported that many potential sources declined to participate due to fear of retaliation from the billionaire. Musk criticized the production on X, calling it a hit piece.

While working on the film, I realized that, technological elements aside, Musk's story is like an old wine put into a new bottle. It turns out to be the story of a con man, a stock market manipulator.

Insider accounts and legal disputes

The documentary includes interviews with Musk's father Errol Musk, his first wife Justine Wilson, and Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, alongside tech journalist Kara Swisher, neurologist Sam Harris, and former USAID administrator Samantha Power. Former conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair, who shares a son born in 2024 with Musk, attended the festival premiere with the production team. St. Clair stated that Musk sought to have children due to fears of an impending civil war. She described rejecting a proposed non-disclosure agreement that offered a $40 million lump sum and a $100,000 monthly stipend. St. Clair also took legal action against Musk's artificial intelligence company after its Grok chatbot generated sexually explicit deepfakes of her.

I was offered the opportunity not to speak for $40 million.

Political influence and algorithmic control

The film examines Musk's entry into international and American politics, including his alignment with Donald Trump and his leadership role in the Department of Government Efficiency. Journalist Zoë Schiffer outlines how Musk altered recommendation algorithms at X after acquiring the platform in 2022, suppressing established news reporting while elevating inflammatory accounts. In Venice, Gibney and St. Clair cited Musk's digital endorsements of right-wing parties across Britain, Brazil, Turkey, and Germany, where he recently praised the Alternative for Germany party following state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.

I do believe that he is causing deliberate division that may be catastrophic if it's not regulated or tamed, or if we don't do our part in putting it down.

Scrutiny of business claims

Gibney's investigation reviews recurring gaps between commercial announcements and product deliveries across Tesla and SpaceX. The film examines a June 2013 demonstration of a 90-second battery swap system at Harris Ranch, which was never deployed commercially but allowed Tesla to secure zero-emission vehicle credits from California regulators. The documentary also addresses fatal collisions involving Tesla Autopilot technology, alongside Musk's expansion of Starlink satellite infrastructure. Gibney argued that Musk relies heavily on public subsidies and defense contracts while promoting deregulation.