French prosecutors are seeking charges against Elon Musk and his social platform X for child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday it has opened an investigation into X on charges including complicity in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse images, unlawfully collecting personal data and without ensuring data security, as well as disseminating non-consensual images or other content and denial of crimes against humanity Grok.
X and its parent company SpaceX did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Thursday.
The investigation comes less than three weeks after Musk and Linda Yaccarino – the former CEO of X – were summoned for “voluntary interviews” to discuss the allegations. They did not show up but French authorities said this would not hinder the investigation.
Musk was summoned after a search took place in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.
French authorities opened their investigation after reports from a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.
