From ‘Macrohard’ to Bill Gates: Every time Elon Musk has mocked Microsoft

Elon Musk has never been shy about throwing jabs at his rivals, and Microsoft has often been at the receiving end.

Whether it’s trolling its outages, poking fun at Bill Gates, or directly questioning CEO Satya Nadella, the Tesla CEO has turned his rivalry with the software giant into a running commentary.

Here’s a look at some of the most notable moments.

The “Macrohard” announcement (2025)

In August 2025, Musk announced a new AI project under his company xAI called Macrohard, a deliberate play on Microsoft’s name.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “Join @xAI and help build a purely AI software company called Macrohard,” calling it a “tongue-in-cheek name” but insisting the project was real.

His claim gained traction when US trademark filings confirmed that xAI had indeed filed for the Macrohard name.

Pressuring Satya Nadella (2025)

In another move, Musk publicly tagged Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, urging him to address Blizzard employees who criticised conservative figure Charlie Kirk after his death.

“What’s going on here, @satyanadella?” Musk asked, amplifying political pressure on Microsoft.

Musk’s direct question to Nadella follows a broader censorship crackdown from Republicans targeting individuals celebrating Kirk’s death or criticising him.

Mocking the Microsoft outage (2024)

When a massive IT outage in July 2024 disrupted banks, airlines, and healthcare systems worldwide, Musk couldn’t resist.

He replied to a meme about Microsoft’s collapse with a laughing emoji, highlighting how his own platform was still working.

The meme's caption read: "Everything else is down, but this app still works."

He even resurfaced a 2021 post that read, “Macrohard >> Microsoft,” rubbing salt in the wound as millions faced downtime.

Calling Bill Gates’ AI knowledge “limited” (2023)

In March 2023, Musk reignited his feud with Microsoft co-founder. “I remember the early meetings with Gates,” he posted.

“His understanding of AI was limited. Still is.” The jab came amid growing debates over OpenAI and Gates’ bullish stance on AI.

The famous “boner” tweet (2022)

One of Musk’s more controversial moments came in April 2022, when he mocked Gates with a crude tweet.

Posting a picture of the Microsoft founder alongside a pregnant man emoji, Musk captioned it: “In case u need to lose a boner fast.” 

The tweet drew backlash but underscored the depth of their personal rivalry.