- Elon Musk says he'd like to meet his doppelgänger from China, Yilong Ma.
- Musk, however, wondered if the man was a "deepfake," saying it was "hard to tell."
- Ma, meanwhile, responded to Musk on social media, writing: "I love you. You are my hero."
Elon Musk says he'd like to meet his Chinese lookalike, a man from the northeastern Chinese province of Hebei — if he's real.
Musk was responding this week to a Twitter user who suggested that the "Chinese Elon Musk" could be a "decoy" for the real deal.
"I'd like to meet this guy (if he is real). Hard to tell with deepfakes these days," Musk tweeted.
Ma, who bears a striking resemblance to Musk, first went viral on China's TikTok, Douyin, after a video of him standing next to a luxury car spread on the platform. The video found its way to Musk, prompting the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to quip on December 20, 2021, that he may be "partly Chinese."
Ma now has a TikTok account under the username "Elong Musk," which has over 230,000 followers. He has since posted several videos on TikTok, including an introduction video where he refers to himself as "China's Elon Musk."
Ma also weighed in on Musk's high-profile acquisition of Twitter, posting a TikTok video where he animatedly points at a printout of the Twitter icon, calling it "my bird!"
Ma's most recent video, posted this week, appeared to show him attempting to speak English. He uploaded it with the caption: "Actually, I don't know what I'm talking about, please forgive me."
For his part, Ma has responded to Musk's overtures, saying that he would love to meet him too.
"I am here. I want very much to see you too! I love you, you are my hero," wrote Ma on Tuesday on China's Twitter-like Weibo.