Elon Musk may only be the third richest person in the world, but among his peers he’s the number one target of many late-night hosts. So it’s hardly surprising that the Tesla founder—who has a reputation for trying to disrupt the media spaces he does not like (see: the social media network formerly known as Twitter)—has set his sights on burning late-night television to the ground.
No, Musk isn’t planning to hop behind a desk and deliver a nightly monologue. But apparently he does think that Grok, his AI chatbot, has the talent to out-funny all the Jimmys and Jo(h)ns who currently occupy the post-primetime daypart.
Musk took to X early Thursday to share his plans, explaining: “Grok will soon offer a humorous take on the news in the spirit of how The Daily Show and Colbert Report used to be in ancient times.”
If you’re Stephen Colbert, it’s hard not to take that one personally—though maybe it’s best to think of it as a backhanded compliment.
That he might pick on Colbert specifically should hardly come as a surprise, as the Late Show host has taken aim at Musk on plenty of occasions.
In 2015, Musk was a guest on The Late Show, where Colbert very pointedly suggested that the Tesla founder might just be a “supervillain.” In the years since, the host has called Musk out for his Twitter takeover/takedown and suggested that his SpaceX rockets are a way to compensate for his penis size. And while his accounts are still active, Colbert and The Late Show stopped using Twitter entirely in late 2023.
Game on.
