Elon Musk’s 16-month-old son X Æ A-Xii has made a rare appearance at one of his father’s business presentations.
Earlier this week, the billionaire founder of SpaceX spoke about his Starship programme during a virtual event organised by the US National Academies Space Studies Board.
Appearing via Zoom, Musk was dressed in formal attire and holding baby X Æ A-Xii on his lap.
Ahead of the presentation, Musk asked for an introductory video showing the Space X headquarters to be played.
“Car, car,” X Æ A-Xii could be heard saying as a rocket being transported across the site appeared on screen.
“Rocket, but, it’s a rocket on a big car,” his father corrected him.
As the rocket launched into the sky, the one-year-old could be heard imitating “swoosh” sound effects.
The one-year-old also took the opportunity to introduce himself to all those watching.
“Hi, hi, hi,” he said, waving his arms in the air before a third person entered the room to take him away.
Musk welcomed X Æ A-Xii in May 2020 with his former partner, Canadian singer Grimes.
In an interview with The New York Times in July, the billionaire said he plays a minimal role in everyday parenting duties, like feeding his son and changing his nappies.
“Babies are just eating and pooping machines, you know? Right now, there’s not much I can do,” he said.
“Grimes has a much bigger role than me right now. When the kid gets older, there will be more of a role for me.”
Musk and Grimes, who began dating in 2018, announced that they had “semi-separated” in September.
“We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,” Musk said in a statement at the time.
“It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in Los Angeles.
“She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room,” he said.
Ahead of attending the Met Gala in September, Grimes revealed that her son refuses to call her “mama”.
Speaking to Vogue, she said that the one-year-old calls her by her first name.
“Being a mother feels weird to say, I don’t identify with that word. Which is also weird because, X, he says ‘Claire’ but he doesn’t say ‘mama’,” she said.
“Maybe he can sense my distaste for the word mother. Which, I don’t even know why I have a distaste for it. I respect it. I just can’t identify with it.”