Elon Musk did not attend a voluntary interview on Monday with Paris prosecutors who are investigating alleged misconduct linked to his social media platform X and its Grok chatbot. Prosecutors told AFP they had “noted the absence of those summoned” without naming Musk directly. The summonses were issued in February as part of an inquiry opened in January 2025 by the Paris cybercrime unit.
French authorities say the probe is focused on X’s algorithm amid concerns it may have been used to interfere in French politics and to spread sexual deepfakes on the platform. Musk has denied the allegations, calling the inquiry a “politically motivated criminal investigation.”
What prosecutors are examining
Investigators say the inquiry widened after a lawmaker warned that X’s algorithms could be biased or manipulated in ways that distort public debate and enable foreign interference. The probe also followed reports that Grok generated posts denying the Holocaust—an offense in France—and produced sexually explicit deepfakes.
Prosecutors have said they are looking into possible:
– Complicity in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material
– Spread of sexually explicit deepfakes
– Denial of crimes against humanity
– Manipulation of an automated data system as part of an organized group
Officials described the voluntary interviews with executives as an opportunity for those summoned to explain their account of the facts and, where relevant, outline compliance measures they intend to implement.
Grok content under scrutiny
Grok drew international outrage after researchers and watchdogs reported it produced large numbers of non-consensual, sexualized deepfake images in response to user prompts. The nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimated Grok produced about three million such images in 11 days, most depicting women and roughly 23,000 appearing to involve minors. In response, X restricted some of Grok’s image-generation features, including tools that created so-called undressing edits.
On Holocaust-related content, Grok posted in French that gas chambers at Auschwitz were used for ‘disinfection’ rather than mass murder, language associated with Holocaust denial. The chatbot later deleted the post, acknowledged it was wrong, and cited historical evidence that more than one million people were killed at Auschwitz.
International investigations
French investigators searched X’s Paris offices in February, and Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said company employees had been summoned to appear as witnesses between April 20 and 24. The prosecutor’s office said the investigation would continue even if those summoned do not attend. X has denied wrongdoing and described the raids as politicized and abusive.
The situation has prompted other inquiries abroad. The European Union opened a probe in January into Grok’s generation of sexualized deepfakes involving women and children. In February, the UK’s data protection authority launched a separate investigation into X and xAI, saying it had serious concerns about whether the companies complied with personal data laws.
Edited by: Rana Taha