As Mr. Musk steps away from Washington, he faces concerns over his prolonged absence from his businesses including Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and X.

Like Tesla's promised full self-driving feature, Musk's firms aren't completely autonomous and need a steady— and ideally "super focused" — hand to guide them.

An interview meant to spotlight SpaceX turned tense as Elon Musk was pressed on Trump-era policies, revealing his complicated political stance.