Elon Muskwas caught puffing out his cheeks and pulling exaggerated faces at a formal state dinner in China on Thursday, as the Tesla chief executive joined a high‑powered US business delegation being courted by President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The dinner followed a morning meeting in which Xi addressed 17 American chief executives travelling withUS President Donald Trump, including Musk, Apple's Tim Cook and Boeing's Kelly Ortberg, according to the White House.
Xi used the gathering to reassure US business that China's 'doors... will keep opening wider' to American investment, in comments carried by state news agency Xinhua, while Trump responded by urging the assembled executives to expand their cooperation with China.
If the official agenda sounded polished and predictable, the banquet pictures told a more chaotic story. In footage and photos circulating on Chinese and Western social media, Musk appears to be in constant demand, repeatedly approached by fellow guests for selfies and quick chats as courses arrive and speeches run on.
One clip shows Lei Jun, the chief executive of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, leaning in for a photo with Musk at the long banquet table. Musk, apparently mid‑conversation or mid‑contemplation, blows out his cheeks in an exaggerated, mock‑exasperated way before snapping into a peculiar pout for the camera. As Lei resets for another shot, Musk glances away, whistles softly and scrolls on his phone, barely acknowledging a man seated next to him.
Another widely shared image comes from a selfie with outgoing Apple boss Cook. In that frame, Musk's eyes are widened and his mouth set somewhere between a grin and a grimace, giving him the look of someone both enjoying and enduring the moment. Cook smiles politely. Musk appears, as one commenter put it, 'overstimulated.'
Elon Musk surrounded by fans in China, hamming it up for photos.pic.twitter.com/1AckaMgpSj
Online reaction to the Musk state dinner pictures has been swift and, at times, unkind. One social media user described him as looking 'overstimulated,' noting his restless expressions and constant fidgeting. Another went further, claiming, 'He IS the spectrum. Adderall and all.' That second remark, which attempts to link his behaviour directly to autism and medication, is speculation and not supported by any evidence in the public record, so it should be treated with caution.
Musk himself has previously supplied some of the vocabulary now being thrown back at him. HostingSaturday Night Livein 2021, he revealed that he has Asperger's syndrome, a condition recognised as part of the autism spectrum. People with Asperger's are often described as having difficulties with social interaction and narrow, highly focused interests, while typically demonstrating above‑average intelligence. Musk has also joked in interviews and online that he sometimes has to switch on 'human emulation mode' to get through social events, an offhand phrase that clearly resonates with his fans and critics alike.
Seen in that light, the awkward grimaces and theatrical sighs at a heavily choreographed diplomatic dinner begin to look less like calculated eccentricity and more like a man struggling to regulate himself in an over-lit room where everyone wants a piece of him. Of course, only Musk knows how he felt at that table, and nothing in the footage proves distress. He also appears, at points, to be relishing the attention, leaning into the oddness of the moment as cameras close in.
Source: International Business Times UK
