AI Success Linked To Diet? Viral X Post Sparks Debate, Elon Musk Responds

Could there possibly be a connection between what you eat and how successful you become in the world of AI? A viral post on X prompted some light-hearted speculation and banter about just that, after it pointed out that several prominent AI leaders happen to be vegetarians.

Ben Swerdlow, co-founder and CEO of Freestyle Cloud, highlighted the dietary choices of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Google's Sundar Pichai, and quipped that their vegetarianism might explain their success in AI.

Dario is a vegetarian. Sam Altman is a vegetarian. Sundar Pichai is also vegetarian. Let that sink in.

— Benۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗۗ☁️ (@benswerd) October 29, 2026

The observation caught the attention of SpaceXAI and Tesla boss Elon Musk, who in his typical style was having none of that.

He had a rather 'meaty' take on the subject.

"I have steak, eggs and coffee for breakfast every day," Musk wrote, adding a flexed bicep emoji.

@benswerd I have steak, eggs & coffee for breakfast everyday 🦾

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2026

Musk's response went viral, gaining more than 4,000 comments and over 100,000 likes.

Altman has said he's been a vegetarian since childhood, while Pichai also identifies as a vegetarian, although he includes eggs in his diet as a source of protein.

Amodei, meanwhile, became a vegetarian after following the example of his sister, Daniela Amodei, who is also the president and co-founder of Anthropic.

Musk's dietary choices are not entirely new territory either. Last year, he discussed his eating routine on a podcast, saying that he generally skips lunch or has something "very small" if he feels hungry. Dinner, meanwhile, varies depending on the day.

Of course, there is no evidence that being vegetarian has anything to do with building successful AI companies, just as Musk's steak-and-eggs routine is hardly a formula for success in technology.

But the post has offered X users a fun new way to compare some of the biggest personalities in the AI industry. In the barrage of responses that flooded X, several users pointed out Mark Zuckerberg's love for meat. Zuckerberg's Meta AI competes directly with leading AI labs like Anthropic and OpenAI.

And while Altman, Amodei and Pichai may share a preference for vegetarian food, Musk clearly isn't planning to join them at the table.