French prosecutors are seeking charges against Elon Musk and his social platform X for images of child sexual abuse on the platform, extensive lies, misinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity with the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said Wednesday it has opened an investigation against X on charges including being involved in possessing and distributing images of sexual abuse of children, illegally collecting personal data and without ensuring data security, as well as distributing non-consensual images or other content and denying crimes against humanity Grok.
X and its parent company SpaceX did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Thursday.
The investigation comes less than three weeks after Musk and Linda Yaccarino – the former CEO of X – were called in for a “discretionary interview” to discuss the allegations. They did not come forward but the French authorities said that this would not prevent the investigation.
Musk was called after a search that took place in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their positions as managers of X during the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 to July 2025.
French authorities opened their investigation after a report from a French parliamentarian claimed that biased algorithms on X may distort the performance of the automated data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, Grok, produced posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, crimes in France, and spread elaborate sexist lies.
