People are convinced that Elon Musk is in an unusual AI relationship

Elon Musk's latest social media activity has left some people suspicious, as they now believe that the richest man in the world has started a new relationship with his own AI avatar.

It's understandable that a man with 14 children – at least that we are aware of – hasn't really kept his relationships a secret, although he technically hasn't had a significant other since splitting from Grimes at some point earlier this decade.

Elon Musk previously described being in 'severe emotional pain' following his breakup with actress Amber Heard, despite only being together for a number of months, so it might be best that his next romantic venture could be specifically programmed to never leave him.

Following some rather strange posts on social media some people are now convinced that Musk has formed a loving bond with the female anime-like Grok avatar 'Ani', and the speculation has left some in shock.

As shared by 'pokey pup' on X, three screenshots of Musk's social media interactions with Ani appear to suggest that his fondness goes beyond that of which a creator would have for their own invention.

"Ani is 👌," wrote Musk in a quoted post to the avatar's reveal, while also expressing his excitement over her new outfits and fire emojis to another user's videos of the avatar in a black swimsuit.

Replies reveal further screenshots where Musk wrote 'nice' in response to a photo of Ani wearing incredibly short shorts from behind, alongside videos of his own where she twirls around in the same black swimsuit.

While this could simply be the billionaire's way of expressing his excitement over the new feature – which by design has been engineered as a quasi-romantic companion – but people are seeing it as a sign that he has perhaps taking the testing process a little too far.

"We are reaching levels of divorce never seen before," writes one reply to the supposed revelation, whereas others are joking that he'll eventually add a feature where you can have a child with the AI avatar.

It does feed in to a growing trend where people are increasingly seeing artificial intelligence as not only their friend but their romantic partner too, causing one Chinese man to almost leave his wife as a result.

There are communities across social media that are solely dedicated to people sharing their romantic experiences with AI, and Sam Altman's belief that conversations with chatbots will soon take over those between humans only increases the possibility of that in our future.

This could simply be the first step in Musk's own digital future though, as he has previously expressed a desire to bring sex robots into the world, and Ani could perhaps be the first steps towards that goal.