Musk has previously criticized the NSA, tweeting March 6 that the NSA “needs an overhaul,” attaching a graphic depicting a group of college-aged people and a list of universities where the agency would be doing recruitment.

The unannounced visit suggests Musk’s drive to slash the federal workforce now extends to a secretive agency known as the "puzzle palace" for its famed codebreaking abilities.

Elon Musk visited the National Security Agency on Wednesday, current and former U.S. officials said, meeting with leadership a week after saying the intelligence and cybersecurity outfit needed an overhaul.