Musk on Silicon Valley spying report: “If she’s a 10, you’re an asset”

Elon Musk has responded to a report by The Times, which claims that China and Russia send female spies to steal Silicon Valley secrets. He believes that beautiful women are “100% spies.”

Female spies are even marrying and having children with their targets, British newspaper The Times reported earlier this week.

James Mulvenon, chief intelligence officer at Pamir Consulting, a company that advises American businesses investing in China, told the newspaper that he was recently targeted by female spies.

He alleged that the women tried to use romantic or sexual tricks to get access to secret information about American technology.

Musk shared the screenshot of the article, suggesting that beautiful women are indeed spies.

“If she’s a 10, you’re an asset 100%,” he wrote on X.

If she’s a 10, you’re an asset 💯😂 pic.twitter.com/Fc9twx1BPp

undefined Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 23, 2025

Musk’s post got nearly 24M views and was accompanied by dozens of borderline sexist and racist jokes.

Unsurprisingly, some said they were concerned that the report may have dire consequences for women working in tech.

“I can’t help but worry that the headlines about ‘Russia and China sending spies to seduce/marry poor male founders’ are going to make life 10 times harder for female founders,” Benjamin Houy wrote on X.

I can’t help but worry that the headlines about “Russia and China sending spies to seduce/marry poor male founders” are going to make life 10 times harder for female founders.

undefined Benjamin Houy (@BenjaminHouy) October 24, 2025

The US House committee has warned that there have been over 60 espionage cases across 20 states linked to the Chinese Communist Party, including the theft of technology and trade secrets.

The long history of honey traps

A honey trap is an intelligence-gathering technique that involves seduction or sexual appeal to extract information. Russia and its predecessor, the Soviet Union, have a long track record of using honey traps in the West.

Anna Chapman, the infamous Russian spy who lived in the United States and the United Kingdom, recently boasted of being “endowed with the necessary attributes” like a full chest and red hair to “have an effect on men.”

South Korean media reported in 2022 that China was setting a honeytrap for Ahn Hee-jung, a former governor and presidential hopeful.

According to media reports, when China’s former envoy to South Korea and his wife were invited to stay overnight at a condominium by Hee-jung, they brought a woman along who proposed a sexual encounter to the then-governor.

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