Paris Raid And Legal Summons
French authorities have raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s X as part of an investigation into suspected offences that include unlawful data extraction and complicity in the possession of child pornography, while prosecutors also confirmed that Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino have been summoned to hearings in April.
The Paris prosecutor’s cyber-crime unit carried out the search, and the prosecutor’s office said the inquiry is now examining whether X has broken the law across several areas. Among the potential crimes under review are complicity in the possession or organised distribution of images of children of a pornographic nature, infringement of people’s image rights through sexual deepfakes, and fraudulent data extraction by an organised group.
The investigation began in January 2025, when French prosecutors started examining content recommended by X’s algorithm. It was widened in July that year to include Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok.
Responses From X And Its Executives
Writing on X, Musk said the raid was a “political attack.” The company said in a statement that it was “disappointed” but “not surprised,” and accused the Paris Public Prosecutor’s office of carrying out an “abusive act.” X denied any wrongdoing and said the raid “endangers free speech.”
Yaccarino, who left the firm last year, also posted on X, accusing French prosecutors of pursuing “a political vendetta against Americans.” “To be clear: they are lying,” she wrote.
UK Scrutiny Of Grok And Deepfake Images
In a separate development, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office said it had opened a probe into Musk’s AI tool, Grok, over its “potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content.” The announcement followed earlier scrutiny of sexual deepfakes created by Grok and shared on X.
The images, which were often made using real images of women without their consent, prompted criticism in January from victims, online safety campaigners, and politicians. The company later intervened to prevent the practice after Ofcom and other bodies began investigations.
On Tuesday, Ofcom said it was continuing to investigate the platform and was treating the matter “as a matter of urgency.” It added that it was currently unable to investigate the creation of illegal images by Grok because it does not have sufficient powers relating to chatbots.
Shortly afterwards, the ICO said it was launching its own investigation, working with Ofcom, into the processing of personal data linked to Grok. “The reports about Grok raise deeply troubling questions about how people’s personal data has been used to generate intimate or sexualised images without their knowledge or consent, and whether the necessary safeguards were put in place to prevent this,” said William Malcolm, the ICO’s executive director for regulatory risk and innovation.
European Commission And Cross-Border Coordination
In late January, the European Commission announced that it was investigating X’s parent company, xAI, over concerns related to the images. A Commission spokesperson said it was in contact with French authorities regarding the search of X’s office in Paris.
Reactions From Telegram Founder And Prior French Case
Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging app Telegram, criticised the French authorities on Tuesday. In a post on X, he said France was “the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom.” “Don’t be mistaken: this is not a free country,” he added.
Durov was arrested and detained in France in August 2024 over alleged moderation failures on his messaging app, which the Paris prosecutor’s office said had not done enough to curb criminal activity. He was allowed to leave the country last March after the platform made changes to how it operates following the arrest, including sharing some user data with authorities in response to legal requests.
Featured image credits: Heute.at
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