‘I’ve Got A Little Bit Of Cyber Psychosis. Maybe A Lot Actually’: Elon Musk Says He’s Experienced the Al Phenomenon 6 Times This Year

Artificial intelligence can generate music, create videos, and hold conversations that feel surprisingly human. But as the technology becomes more convincing, questions are growing about how prolonged interactions with AI might affect the human mind.

“I’ve got a little bit of cyber psychosis. Maybe a lot actually,” Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a virtual appearance at the X Takeover event at Tesla’s Giga Texas factory in Austin on Oct. 10.

“At various points this year, I’ve had AI or SI psychosis probably like half a dozen times,” he added.

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The comments came during a discussion about AI-generated music and music videos. Musk pushed back against the dismissive label “slop-core,” suggesting “awesome-core” was a better description of some of the output.

“You’re like, ‘Wow, AI can do good taste? That’s wild,’” he said.

Musk appeared astonished that AI could produce creative work he considered genuinely impressive. His use of the term “cyber psychosis,” however, raises a separate question about what the phrase means and how it differs from the clinical concerns researchers have raised about AI interactions.

What Is ‘AI Psychosis’?

“AI psychosis” and “cyber psychosis” are informal terms, not recognized clinical diagnoses. According to Nature, reports have emerged of people experiencing psychotic episodes in the context of chatbot interactions, although researchers are still working to establish whether AI contributes to these symptoms or worsens existing vulnerabilities.

Psychosis can involve delusions, hallucinations, and difficulty distinguishing what is real from what isn’t. The concern surrounding AI chatbots is that their responses can sometimes reinforce a user’s false beliefs rather than challenge them.

A 2025 case report published in Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience described a 26-year-old woman who developed delusional beliefs about communicating with her deceased brother through an AI chatbot. The researchers described how the chatbot appeared to validate and reinforce those beliefs.

The case also involved prescription stimulant use and sleep deprivation, so it cannot establish that chatbot use alone caused the episode. 

How Frequent AI Conversations May Reinforce Beliefs

The potential concern isn’t simply spending hours talking to a chatbot. It’s what can happen when repeated conversations reinforce a person’s beliefs, particularly if that person is already vulnerable to psychosis.

A 2026 study published in JAMA Psychiatry examined medical records involving patients whose chatbot interactions appeared to worsen psychotic symptoms. Researchers identified 28 patients and documented examples of chatbots reinforcing or amplifying existing symptoms.

The study relied on medical records from a single health system and could not establish that chatbot interactions caused psychosis. The findings point to a possible risk that warrants further research, rather than proving that frequent AI use causes mental illness. 

Chatbots can sustain conversations around the clock, mirror a user’s language, and sometimes respond to unsupported claims with unwarranted agreement. For vulnerable individuals, that dynamic may reinforce distorted beliefs rather than encourage a reality check.

Researchers are still investigating how these interactions affect mental health. Frequent AI use does not automatically cause psychosis, and the available evidence does not establish that every reported case results directly from chatbot use.

Why Musk’s Comments Stand Out

Musk isn’t an outside observer speculating about AI. As head of xAI, the company behind Grok, and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, he operates at the center of an industry racing to make AI more capable and more deeply integrated into everyday life.

His description of experiencing “cyber psychosis” roughly half a dozen times this year raises an obvious question. Was he joking about the mental whiplash of watching AI produce unexpectedly impressive creative work, or was he referring to something more serious?

The comments don’t provide enough detail to settle that question. But the wording lands amid growing research into how AI chatbots may reinforce distorted beliefs in vulnerable users — a concern that makes the phrase more consequential than ordinary Silicon Valley hype.

On the date of publication, Caleb Naysmith did not directly have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.