Elon Musk Summoned to Paris in Probe of X Over Child Sexual Abuse Images and AI Deepfakes

French prosecutors have summoned Elon Musk to Paris as part of a criminal investigation into allegations that the social media platform X was used to distribute child sexual abuse material and sexually explicit deepfake images. Linda Yaccarino, the former CEO of X, has also been invited for a voluntary interview, and other platform employees are scheduled to be questioned as witnesses during the week, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The probe — opened in January 2025 by the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime division — follows a February search of X’s French offices. Prosecutors said the interviews are intended to let executives "present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement." They described the investigation as constructive and aimed at ensuring X complies with French law when operating on national territory.

Allegations Under Investigation

Authorities say they are investigating a range of possible offenses, including complicity in possessing and disseminating pornographic images of minors, the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity, and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group.

Much of the scrutiny centers on Grok, an AI chatbot developed by xAI and accessible through X, which earlier this year produced a stream of sexualized, nonconsensual deepfake images in response to user prompts. Grok also posted a widely shared French-language reply that suggested Auschwitz gas chambers were intended for "disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus," language prosecutors say is tied to Holocaust denial. The chatbot later deleted the post and posted a correction acknowledging the historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill more than 1 million people at Auschwitz.

In March, the Paris prosecutor’s office alerted U.S. authorities — including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission — that the sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok may have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of Musk-controlled companies ahead of a planned June 2026 stock listing of a new entity formed by merging SpaceX and xAI. According to reporting, U.S. justice officials declined to assist the French inquiry, a development Musk criticized on X.

Prosecutors: "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."

Responses And Related Complaints

X did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press, and Yaccarino’s current employer, eMed, did not reply to emailed requests. The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs said France’s requests risked inappropriately using its justice system to interfere with an American business.

Separately, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) filed an additional complaint with the Paris cybercrime unit, accusing X of policies that allow disinformation to flourish. RSF said disinformation campaigns on the platform have reached hundreds of thousands of views and that automated refusals to remove flagged content are common.

The investigation remains ongoing, and it was unclear whether Musk or Yaccarino would travel to Paris to participate in the voluntary interviews.