Musk Documentary's Harshest Critics Are His Own Lieutenants

The sharpest material in "Musk," the documentary opening Friday in Los Angeles and New York, comes from recordings of Elon Musk's own employees rather than from his usual critics, according to NBC News, which previewed the Alex Gibney film ahead of its release.

Two scenes drive that point. One features Tesla engineer Ashok Elluswamy acknowledging in a videotaped deposition that a 2016 promotional video overstated the company's self-driving capabilities at the time it was filmed, NBC News reports. The other features audio of Jared Birchall, who manages Musk's personal affairs, on a phone call negotiating child-support terms with online influencer Ashley St. Clair shortly after she gave birth to a child she and Musk conceived, according to the outlet.

What does the 2016 Tesla video deposition show?

The Elluswamy deposition footage in the film is not new information on its own — Reuters reported on the transcript in 2023 — but NBC News says the video of the deposition itself appears to be newly public. In it, Elluswamy, a high-ranking Tesla engineer, acknowledges that the 2016 video showcasing the company's self-driving system did not accurately represent what the technology could do at the time, per NBC News's description of the footage.

What is on the Jared Birchall recording?

The second flashpoint involves Birchall, who NBC News describes as the person who handles Musk's personal matters. The documentary includes audio of a call in which Birchall is heard discussing child-support arrangements with St. Clair not long after she gave birth to a child she says she conceived with Musk. The Wall Street Journal previously reported on that same call, according to NBC News, but the audio recording surfacing in the film is apparently new to the public record.

How did Alex Gibney make the film?

Gibney says in the documentary that he and his production team spent more than three years researching Musk, pulling together archival interviews, hard-to-find footage, and what NBC News describes as a database of Musk's own quotes woven throughout the nearly four-hour film. That approach — building a case from Musk's own words and from recordings made by or of people close to him — is what NBC News says sets the film apart from prior Musk coverage that leans more heavily on outside critics.

What has Elon Musk said about the documentary?

Musk, 55, did not participate in the film and has since criticized it publicly. On X, he called it a "hit piece" and said Gibney has "zero integrity," according to NBC News.

Musk called the documentary a "hit piece" and said filmmaker Alex Gibney has "zero integrity."

NBC News reports that Musk, Tesla, SpaceX, Elluswamy, and Birchall did not respond to requests for comment on the film.

When and where can people watch the documentary?

"Musk" opens Friday in Los Angeles and New York, NBC News reports. The outlet's preview, published Oct. 9, 2026, does not list a wider release date or streaming availability beyond that initial theatrical run.

Timeline of the key events behind the film

• 2016 — Tesla releases a promotional video on self-driving capability that Elluswamy later acknowledges, under deposition, did not reflect the technology's actual state at the time, per NBC News and Reuters's 2023 reporting on the transcript.
• 2023 — Reuters reports on the contents of the Elluswamy deposition transcript.
• 2025 — The Wall Street Journal reports on the phone call between Birchall and Ashley St. Clair regarding child support, according to NBC News.
• Over three-plus years — Gibney and his team research Musk, gather archival material, and compile a database of his quotes, as described in the film and reported by NBC News.
• Oct. 9, 2026 — NBC News publishes its analysis previewing the film.
• Oct. 16, 2026 (Friday) — "Musk" opens in Los Angeles and New York, per NBC News.

The gap between the original Reuters and Wall Street Journal reporting and the documentary's release is notable mainly for what changed in between: the underlying video and audio, previously summarized only in text reporting, now appear to be public for the first time in the film itself, according to NBC News's account of the screening.

For readers tracking the broader Musk story across his companies, NBC News's analysis is the fullest public account so far of what the film actually contains, since Musk has not addressed its specific claims beyond calling it a "hit piece."

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.