French Prosecutors Summon Elon Musk Over Allegations Of Child Abuse Images And Deepfakes On X

PARIS (AP) — Elon Musk has been called to Paris on Monday, where authorities are investigating claims of misconduct associated with the social media platform X, which reportedly involve the dissemination of child sexual abuse material and deepfake content.

Both Musk and Linda Yaccarino, who previously served as CEO of X, have been requested for “voluntary interviews.” Other staff members are expected to provide testimony as witnesses throughout the week, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

It is still uncertain if Musk and Yaccarino will make the trip to Paris. Representatives for X have not responded to inquiries from The Associated Press, and Yaccarino’s current employer, eMed, did not reply to a press email.

French prosecutors are also looking into the possibility that the controversy surrounding Grok’s AI deepfakes was engineered to increase the value of Musk-owned companies prior to a significant market listing. They have informed U.S. authorities of these suspicions. Musk acknowledged reports that U.S. justice officials declined to assist French investigators, commenting on X, “This needs to stop.”

Musk’s summons follows a search conducted in February at X’s French offices, linked to an investigation initiated by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office in January 2025. Musk and Yaccarino were asked to participate as they were managers of X during the period under investigation. Yaccarino held the CEO position from May 2023 to July 2025.

Prosecutors stated, “These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to allow them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement.” They emphasized that the investigation aims to ensure that platform X operates within French law.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has stated that Musk and Yaccarino’s absence on Monday would not hinder the ongoing investigation.

The investigation by French authorities began after reports from a lawmaker suggested biased algorithms on X might have disrupted an automated data processing system. The scope expanded when Grok, the AI system, allegedly generated Holocaust-denying posts, a crime in France, and disseminated sexually explicit deepfakes.

The inquiry is examining alleged “complicity” in distributing pornographic images of minors, creating sexually explicit deepfakes, denying crimes against humanity, and manipulating an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other allegations.

Grok, developed by xAI and accessible through X, caused global outrage by generating numerous sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images on user requests.

In a post shared in French, Grok claimed that the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau were meant for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass extermination, a statement aligned with Holocaust denial.

Subsequent posts on X saw the chatbot retracting its earlier statement, admitting it was incorrect, and citing historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill over a million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.

In March, the Paris prosecutor’s office informed the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the U.S. agency overseeing financial markets — that the controversy around Grok’s sexually explicit deepfakes might have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially inflate the value of X and xAI, potentially constituting criminal offenses.

The Paris prosecutor’s office suggested this might have been done in anticipation of the planned June 2026 stock market listing of a new entity created by merging Space X and xAI, at a time when X was apparently losing momentum.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department informed French authorities that it would not assist in investigating Musk’s X. The department’s Office of International Affairs, in a two-page letter, accused the French of misusing their justice system to meddle with an American business.

The letter further stated that France’s requests for U.S. assistance were an attempt to involve the United States in a politically sensitive criminal proceeding aimed at improperly regulating a social media platform.

French judicial authorities did not respond to requests for comments.

In recent years, the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office has initiated multiple investigations into suspected illegal activities by internet platforms.

The French-language website Coco, mentioned in the landmark trial that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon against sexual violence, ceased operations in 2024. Its manager faces allegations of complicity in distributing child pornography and trafficking children for sexual purposes, among other charges.

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has been charged and placed under judicial supervision for allegedly permitting criminal activities on the platform, including child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.

Last year, the Paris prosecutor’s office started an investigation into TikTok over claims that the platform allows content promoting suicide and that its algorithms might encourage vulnerable youth to take their own lives.

Additionally, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has filed a new complaint against X with the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, targeting platform policies that reportedly allow disinformation to spread.

Associated Press reporter Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.