It all feels very Trumpian; once he’s outside his comfort zone (very visible with the software engineering and politics in particular, in Musk’s case) he tends to just take his lead from whoever flatters him most, and promote/repeat this complete nonsense.

This is actually quite odd behaviour. Most high-profile people, confronted with something they don’t understand, will keep quiet; looking stupid is too much of a risk for these people. If the former PM of Russia drunkenly tweets about you, _you do not engage_, no matter how nice he is about you.