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French prosecutors raided the Paris offices of social media platform X on Tuesday as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations that include the distribution of child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They also invited the billionaire owner Elon Musk for questioning.
X and Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI are also under scrutiny from Britain’s data privacy regulator, which has launched official investigations into how the companies handled personal data when they developed and deployed Musk’s Grok AI chatbot.
Grok caused global outrage last month after it released a barrage of sexualized deep fake images without consent in response to requests from X users. Deepfakes are manipulations based on advanced artificial intelligence, where images, audio or video are either digitally altered or completely generated by artificial intelligence.
French police raided the offices of Elon Musk’s X social network on Tuesday, and prosecutors ordered the tech billionaire to face questions in April related to a widening investigation into the platform, including alleged ‘complicity’ in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse images and deepfakes.
What is Grok?
xAI was built by Grok and is available on Xu, where it encourages users to “ask anything.” Grok is often asked by users to check videos, images and information in X posts and to explain or elaborate on topics.
Grok’s website describes the tool as “a free AI assistant designed by xAI to maximize truth and objectivity.” Critics say it is programmed to reflect Musk’s views. Musk is talked openly “fixing” Grok after he gave answers he didn’t like.
Grok can also be used to create or edit images by querying the search bar available on Xu, which led to the deepfake controversy. Reuters found that the chatbot continues to generate sexualized images of people even when users specifically warn that the subjects are not consenting.
On Monday, SpaceX, Musk’s space exploration and rocket company, announced it had acquired xAI in a deal that would also bring together Grok, X and his satellite communications company Starlink.
Why are the French police investigating?
The French investigation was opened in January last year by the prosecutor’s unit for cybercrime, according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office. Authorities opened the investigation after a report by a French lawmaker claimed that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of the automated data processing system.
He expanded his investigation after Grok published posts that alleged holocaust denier — a crime in France — and the dissemination of sexually explicit false content, the statement said.
It is now being investigated for alleged “complicity” in the possession and distribution of pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.
Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been asked by prosecutors to appear for “voluntary interviews” on April 20. The employees of X were summoned the same week to be heard as witnesses, the press release said. Yaccarino has been CEO since May 2023 until July 2025.
In a message posted on X, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced ongoing searches of the company’s offices in France and said it was leaving the platform.
“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law, as it operates on national territory,” the prosecutor’s statement said.
The European Union’s police agency Europol is “supporting the French authorities in this,” Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oorth told The Associated Press, without elaborating.
How did X, Musk respond?
The company defended itself in a statement on the social media platform.
“The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office is clearly trying to put pressure on X senior management in the United States by targeting our French entity and employees, who are not the focus of this investigation,” X said in a statement.
“The prosecution ignored established procedural mechanisms for obtaining evidence in accordance with international treaties and the rights of person X to defend themselves.”
Musk shared the statementadding: “This is a political attack.”
Law professor Kristen Thomasen says preventing the sharing of deepfakes without consent on X will likely require government legislation, warning that it’s a structural problem that users have limited resources to address.
What other investigations does X face?
Canada privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne said last month he is expanding the investigation into X following reports that Grok was used to create and share explicit images of people without their consent.
Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily banned Grok last month, but both bans are in place since it was erected. Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said last month that Canada was not considering a ban on X — a comment that drew praise from Musk.
In Britain, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it was investigating whether X and xAI followed the law in processing personal data and whether Grok had any measures in place to prevent its use to create “harmful manipulated images”.
“The Grok reports raise deeply worrying questions about how people’s personal data was used to create intimate or sexualized images without their knowledge or consent, and whether the necessary safeguards were in place to prevent this,” said William Malcolm, chief executive of the watchdog.
A separate investigation into Grok is underway, launched last month by Britain’s media regulator Ofcom.
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The European Union’s executive branch opened an investigation last month into sexualized deepfake images without consent.
The European Commission has already levied a €120 million (C$194 million) fine against X for failing to comply with the bloc’s rules comprehensive digital regulationsincluding changes to the company’s use of blue ticks to mark verified accounts that violated “deceptive design practices” rules because they risked exposing users to fraud and manipulation.
