French police raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Tuesday, while prosecutors ordered the billionaire to face questioning in April, as scrutiny of the company intensifies across Europe.
The move forms part of a year-long criminal investigation into suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by X or its executives, in a case that could further strain relations between European regulators and U.S. technology firms.
Probe Expanded to Sexualised Deepfakes
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had expanded the scope of its investigation following complaints related to the functioning of Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
The probe will now also examine alleged complicity in the possession and dissemination of child-pornographic material, as well as violations of image rights involving sexually explicit deepfakes. Other potential offences linked to the misuse of automated systems are also under review.
Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino have been summoned to appear at a hearing on April 20. Several other X employees have also been called as witnesses. Such summons are mandatory, although enforcement can be challenging when individuals reside outside France.
X did not immediately comment. Musk previously dismissed the initial accusations in July, describing them as a “politically motivated criminal investigation”.
Widening Regulatory Action Across Europe
Regulatory pressure on X is also mounting in Britain and the European Union. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office said it has opened a formal investigation into Grok over how it processes personal data and its alleged role in producing non-consensual sexualised images, including of children.
Britain’s media regulator Ofcom said separately it was outlining the next steps in its own investigation into X, focusing on whether the platform has done enough to limit the spread of sexual deepfakes. Ofcom noted, however, that xAI — which operates Grok — currently falls outside the scope of its authority.
Last week, the European Union launched a separate investigation into X to assess whether it has disseminated illegal content, following public outrage over manipulated sexualised images generated by Grok. Reuters has found that the chatbot continues to produce sexualised images even when users explicitly state that subjects have not consented.
xAI imposed partial restrictions on Grok’s image-generation tools last month in response to the backlash.
French Prosecutors Quit Platform X
In France, the investigation is being conducted by the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, alongside French police cybercrime officers and Europol. The unit previously arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov in 2024 over alleged complicity in criminal activity carried out on that platform.
The French probe was triggered by a complaint from lawmaker Eric Bothorel, who alleged that biased algorithms on X could have distorted the operation of automated data-processing systems.
“Glad to see that my complaint from January 2025 is yielding results,” Bothorel wrote on X. “In France, the rule of law means that no one is above the law.”
In a separate statement, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it would stop using X altogether, adding that it would now communicate through LinkedIn and Instagram instead.
After questioning, French authorities may decide to close the case or escalate proceedings further, including potential custody measures, depending on the findings.
