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| - A rumor that billionaire and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk spotted a lost girl on a city bus, reunited her with her mother and then bought their family a house circulated online in fall 2024. We received reader mail asking whether this story was true.
For example, on Nov. 1, 2024, a Facebook page named Elon Video posted a nearly 16-minute video (archived) titled "Elon Musk SPOTS 5-Year-Old Girl Alone In The Bus, What Happens Next Will Melt Your Heart." As of this writing, the clip had more than 40,000 positive reactions and 1.1 million views.
Two days earlier, on Oct. 30, a YouTube channel named The Crow posted the likely original upload of the same video (archived). That clip, which had had more than 53,000 likes and 1.3 million views, featured YouTube advertising indicating the channel's owners earned revenue from their videos.
The video tells the story of Musk finding a 5-year-old girl named Maddie alone on a bus in Los Angeles. With the help of a policeman identified as Officer Parker, Musk reunites Maddie with her mother, May, and later buys them a house. The story offered no last names for Maddie or May, nor did it provide a first name for Officer Parker or a date of the supposed incident.
The video's text description read:
In an unexpected twist of fate, Elon Musk, the world-renowned tech visionary, finds himself on a city bus when he spots a 5-year-old girl sitting all alone. What happens next will melt your heart. As Elon uncovers the heartbreaking reality of the girl's life, he's moved to take action in a way that goes far beyond simple kindness. This touching story of compassion and generosity will leave you in awe of the power of human connection. Watch how a chance encounter turned into a life-changing moment for a grieving family - and for Elon himself. This is a story you don't want to miss.
However this story was false. We looked for ways to contact the owners of the YouTube channel The Crow but did not find an email address or links to social media accounts. The channel displayed no disclaimers about its content not being true.
Why the Story Is False
In our research, we located no news articles or evidence that might confirm the video about Musk and the girl on the bus — one that claimed the billionaire rode on a standard city bus — reported a genuine story. The clip featured all the appearances of a tale made up for the goal of earning YouTube advertising revenue.
The YouTube channel The Crow posted other evidence-free stories about Musk performing acts of kindness, such as helping a bullied teen and assisting elderly people into their car.
Further, subsequent to the publishing of the video about Musk and the girl on the bus, other YouTube users posted similar stories claiming different celebrities also stumbled upon a 5-year-old girl on a bus. Instead of Musk in the role of the protagonist, those videos featured actor Keanu Reeves, WNBA star Caitlin Clark, podcaster Joe Rogan and rapper Eminem.
Some of the visual elements for all of these videos — in particular the thumbnail images — bore similarities to a genuine November 2016 clip that "Inside Edition" published on YouTube. That video received over 8 million views and told the true story, "5-Year-Old Girl Left Abandoned At Bus Station Leads Police To Murdered Mom."
The Video Featured Elements of AI
The video claiming Musk found a girl on a bus showed a mixture of genuine pictures and images generated by artificial-intelligence, as did the videos featuring other celebrities. The clip also featured an AI-voiced narrator.
Further, the video displayed signs of an AI tool handling most or all of its editing — indications that the person who made the video simply entered a text prompt into an AI tool that automatically pieced together the full clip.
Musk appeared in some of the video's AI-generated images as other characters, including the bus driver.
'We Are Doomed'
Users shared their opinions about the video on social media. For example, one person on Facebook wrote (archived), "God please help us. We are doomed!! 40,000 people believed this!! THIS IS AI!!!! Elon Musk would NEVER take a public bus."
Another Facebook user skeptical of the story joked (archived), "If you buy this, put in your order for beachfront property in Arizona."
The end of the AI-generated video showed the house Musk supposedly bought Maddie and May.
Meanwhile, a user on X who apaprently believed the story to be true remarked (archived), "I wish more people would see the other side of Elon Musk! His compassion and intuition has never failed him. Blessings to you Elon for staying real."
A different user also shared (archived), "This story of Elon Musk would melt your heart. It's not about politics nor about his cutting-edge high tech projects. There are no coincidences. God placed this big-hearted multibillionaire on a bus to save this girl & her future. Listen until the end."
Musk in the News
The videos published on the YouTube channel The Crow appeared at a time when Musk was in the American news cycle, during the weeks around President-elect Donald Trump's reelection victory.
Leading up to the election, Musk appeared at rallies with the former president and financially supported his campaign. Following the election, Trump named Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — a Republican candidate for president in the 2024 primaries — to lead a newly-established Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — a reference to Musk's support of a cryptocurrency named dogecoin.
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