Elon Musk—tech billionaire, meme enthusiast, and self-proclaimed free speech absolutist—has once again stirred up controversy online, this time by deleting a joke he posted on X (formerly Twitter) after it was met with widespread ridicule.

Late Saturday night, Musk shared a meme-style joke aimed at “AI doomers” and critics of his AI company, xAI. The post featured a crudely drawn cartoon of a robot crying, alongside the caption: “When you realize the AI won’t kill everyone, just take your job.” Within minutes, replies flooded in mocking the quality of the joke, with some users calling it “embarrassingly unfunny” and “boomer-tier posting.”

One user wrote, “You pay engineers billions but this is the comedy budget?” while another commented, “Even ChatGPT wouldn’t generate this.”

The backlash was swift—and so was Musk’s reaction. Less than an hour after posting, the tweet was quietly deleted. But in true internet fashion, screenshots had already gone viral, spawning even more memes and parodies across platforms like Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok. The hashtag #ElonDeleted was trending on X within hours.

Critics were quick to point out the irony of Musk deleting content after years of promoting X as a platform for “absolute free speech” and transparency.

“Elon can dish it out but apparently can’t take it,” tweeted political commentator Hasan Piker.
Others, however, defended Musk, arguing that public figures should be allowed to rethink what they share—especially if it misses the mark.

This isn’t the first time Musk has drawn attention for posting then backtracking. From questionable memes to controversial policy announcements, his impulsive online behavior has become as much a part of his brand as electric cars and space rockets.

For now, Musk hasn’t addressed the deleted post directly, but in a follow-up tweet, he cryptically wrote:

“Comedy is subjective. That’s what makes it dangerous.”

Whether the deletion was damage control or just Musk being Musk, one thing remains certain: when Elon jokes—even badly—the internet always has the last laugh.