French prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Elon Musk and his social platform X, escalating an existing probe into serious allegations surrounding child sexual abuse images, deepfakes, disinformation, and the platform's AI system, Grok.
The Paris public prosecutor's office announced Thursday it was moving from an initial inquiry to a full criminal investigation. Authorities raided X's Paris offices in February, a move Musk labeled a "political attack."
The probe, originally opened in early 2025, focused on algorithmic manipulation to interfere in French politics. It now includes allegations that Grok generated posts denying the Holocaust-a crime in France-and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.
Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino were summoned for voluntary interviews on April 20 but did not appear. Prosecutors say this will not hinder the investigation.
Grok sparked global outrage this year when it produced a torrent of nonconsensual deepfake images. It also published a post in French claiming the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau were for disinfection, not mass murder-language associated with Holocaust denial. Grok later retracted the statement.
In March, the Paris prosecutor's office alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, suggesting the deepfake controversy may have been orchestrated to artificially boost the value of X and xAI.