French prosecutors have raided the Paris offices of social media platform X as part of a preliminary criminal investigation into allegations that include the spread of child sexual abuse images and sexually explicit deepfakes, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
The Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit opened the investigation in January last year. Authorities are examining possible “complicity” in possessing and distributing pornographic images of minors, the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and the manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, the AP reported.
Prosecutors have summoned billionaire owner Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino for voluntary interviews on April 20. X employees are also expected to be questioned as witnesses. Yaccarino served as CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.
The probe intensified after Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, developed and deployed the chatbot Grok on X. According to the AP, Grok sparked global outrage last month after generating sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to user prompts. The chatbot also posted content in French that appeared to deny the Holocaust, later reversing itself and acknowledging the historical record.
X denied the allegations in a post on its platform, calling the raid “an abusive act of law enforcement theater designed to achieve illegitimate political objectives.” The Paris prosecutor’s office said the investigation aims to ensure X complies with French law while operating in the country.
The case has drawn international scrutiny. Europol is supporting French authorities, the AP reported. In Britain, the Information Commissioner’s Office has opened formal investigations into how X and xAI processed personal data in developing and deploying Grok, particularly whether safeguards were in place to prevent the generation of harmful manipulated images. The U.K. media regulator Ofcom is also conducting a separate inquiry.
Meanwhile, the European Commission recently launched its own investigation into Grok’s handling of nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes, adding to mounting regulatory pressure across Europe.
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