"Musk has said... 'Lil X is my emotional support human.' The idea that X was not a child, with the needs and routines of children, but a trained care worker..."

"... for a father with self-confessed 'stormy' emotional needs was no doubt a joke. However, [Musk biographer Walter] Isaacson wrote that almost as soon as X was born, to the singer Grimes, Musk considered him something special, and described how the baby had a medicating effect on his father. He 'had an otherworldly sweetness that calmed and beguiled Musk, who craved his presence,' Isaacson wrote. 'He took X everywhere.' From infancy X accompanied Musk through a demanding work schedule, sitting on his lap at meetings, dancing on conference tables, attending film premieres.... Musk has repeatedly expressed how his lonely childhood instilled in him a desire that he 'never be alone.' His close working life with his four-year-old, or the person Isaacson describes as Musk’s 'cheerful energiser,' means that desire is met. Musk is a maths person, and perhaps having an awful lot of children is the equivalent of having one child but seeing an awful lot of them...."

From "Elon Musk takes his four-year-old son to work. Why? Musk has described ‘Lil X’ as his ‘cuteness prop’ — but his mother seems less delighted" (London Times),