Celebrity Celebrity Family Celebrity Kids Elon Musk Opens Up About Parenting Son X AE A-Xii with Grimes: She 'Has a Much Bigger Role Than Me' "When the kid gets older, there will be more of a role for me," Elon Musk said By Georgia Slater Georgia Slater Georgia Slater is a staff editor on the Parents team at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2018. Her work has previously appeared in USA Today and Washington Life Magazine. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 25, 2020 02:00PM EDT Grimes and Elon Musk. Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Elon Musk is opening up about his relationship with his son. In a recent interview with The New York Times, the Tesla founder — who welcomed son X AE A-Xii with Grimes in May — shared that his girlfriend, 32, has been taking the reins when it comes to caring for their baby boy. "Well, babies are just eating and pooping machines, you know? Right now there's not much I can do," Musk, 49, said. "Grimes has a much bigger role than me right now," he said of the singer, whom he called "pretty special" and "one of the most unusual people I've ever met." "When the kid gets older, there will be more of a role for me," Musk explained. Musk also told the Times that he looks to his relationships with his five older sons for ideas on how to later bond with his newborn, who the couple calls "X." (Musk's first son, Nevada, died tragically of SIDS at 10 weeks old in 2002.) Never miss a story -- sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories Elon Musk and son X. Elon Musk Twitter "I think just doing what I've done with my other kids," Musk, 49, said of his fatherly role. "If I have a trip for Tesla to China, for example, I'll bring the kids with me and we'll go see the Great Wall or we took the bullet train from Beijing to Xian and saw the Terracotta Warriors." The SpaceX CEO also created an online school for his older sons, which he claimed has "actually worked out pretty well." Despite his busy work schedule, Musk recently shared a photo on Twitter of him and X spending quality time together. Looking lovingly into the baby's eyes, Musk captioned the snapshot in German, "Das baby kann noch keinen löffel benutzen," which translates in English to, "The baby cannot use a spoon yet." Elon Musk & Grimes Slightly Change Son's Name on Birth Certificate as Singer Reveals Nickname for Baby Musk and Grimes initially named their baby boy X Æ A-12, but a birth certificate obtained by The Blast showed that the duo had changed the unconventional moniker to X AE A-Xii. The birth certificate shows the child's first name is listed as X, while his original middle name — which featured the "Æ" symbol and the number "12" — has been altered to AE A-Xii. Elon Musk Shares New Photo of Son X AE A-Xii on Twitter: 'The Baby Cannot Use a Spoon Yet' The mother of one previously gave fans some insight into what their son’s unique name meant, explaining on Twitter that X represents “the unknown variable” and "Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence).” She went on to share that part of the name is a nod to the CIA's Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance plane, which has “no weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent.” The "A" in the name also represents "Archangel" — which she said is her "favorite song" — while the number "12" stood for the Chinese zodiac sign of the rat. Close