A 40-year-old Kenyan man has gone viral online after claiming to be the long-lost firstborn son of billionaire Elon Musk. Identifying himself only as a “mental health activist” with an uncanny resemblance to Musk, the man says he wants a DNA test to prove his relationship with the tech mogul. According to his version of events, his mother supposedly met a 20-year-old Musk in the early 1990s while working at a hotel in Kenya’s Masai Mara.

Elon Musk’s Kenyan son? Viral image raises eyebrows

While the man’s claim initially stunned many, the momentary shock quickly gave way to scepticism. The story first appeared on a social media account named African Hub, which failed to provide key details like the man’s name, current whereabouts, or even a second photograph. That lack of transparency set off alarm bells, and users began picking apart the story almost immediately. The post was shared with the caption, “Kenyan man claims he is Elon Musk’s son.” Since being shared on August 3 on X, the post has generated 9.7 million views, 55k likes, 4.7k retweets, and 3.3k comments.

The maths doesn’ add up

One of the first red flags netizens pointed out was the timeline. If the man is 40 years old, and Musk is currently 54, then Musk would have been just 14 at the time of the man’s birth, not 20, as claimed. “Elon isn’t 60; he’s like 53 or 54,” a user wrote, calling the math “impossible.” The age discrepancy quickly became a central point of contention. Additionally, if the man was born in the 1990s, he couldn’t possibly be 40 years old. If the man were born in 1990, he would be 35 in 2025.

Anonymity deepens the mystery

The second major issue was the man’s anonymity. No name, no verifiable records, and no additional images exist to support his identity. Even Pie Radio UK, one of the accounts that shared the story, admitted they hadn’t fact-checked it properly when followers pressed for answers.

Suspicions of AI involvement

The third and most serious concern? The photo itself. Many online users began suggesting that the image wasn’t real at all but AI-generated. They cited strange details in the man’s shirt, background blurring, and unnatural features. “If this is not AI, let him drop another picture,” one user commented, voicing a sentiment shared by many.

Photo recycled from older trends

Internet sleuths then discovered that this exact image and headline had actually surfaced months earlier—on Russian websites in March 2024. Since then, no new photos or updates about the so-called “Kenyan Musk” have emerged, leading to widespread agreement that the image might have originated from a social media trend in 2023. That trend involved using AI to create “Black versions” of famous white celebrities.

The rise of AI-generated fakery and Echoes of Dead Internet theory

Beyond this specific case, the incident has reignited conversations around the growing flood of AI-generated content. Meta recently revealed that it’s launching a suite of AI tools for Facebook and Instagram, including the ability to create AI characters that behave like real users. The bizarre viral claim has also drawn attention to the “Dead Internet Theory”—the idea that increasing parts of the web are made up of content created, circulated, and consumed by bots. The theory suggests that, in the future, genuine human interaction online could be drowned out by loops of automated fakery. What began as a laughable claim from an anonymous man might actually point to a more unsettling reality.

A warning disguised as a hoax?

Though most netizens have dismissed the Kenyan man’s claim as a hoax, some argue that the image’s reappearance is more than just internet mischief. In a time when AI is increasingly blurring the lines between fact and fiction, even harmless fakes could slowly undermine trust in everything we see online.

In the end, most viewers dismissed the claim as an obvious fake, and not even a convincing one. “Desperate,” one user remarked, capturing the overall sentiment. With AI-generated content flooding the internet, many worry that stories like this will only become more common, more believable, and more difficult to debunk. Still, plenty of users saw the humour in it, sharing sarcastic takes and hilarious reactions across social media.

Elon Musk’s real children

As of now, Elon Musk has publicly acknowledged 14 children with four different women:

With Justine Wilson: Nevada Alexander (deceased), Griffin, Vivian, Kai, Saxon, and Damian

With Grimes: X AE A-XII, Exa Dark Sideræl, and Techno Mechanicus

With Shivon Zilis: Strider, Azure, Arcadia, and Seldon Lycurgus

With Ashley St Clair: Romulus