Elon Musk failed to look at a summons to fulfill on Monday with Paris prosecutors, where investigators are looking into allegations of misconduct related to the social media platform X, including the spread of kid sexual abuse material and deepfake content.
Musk and Linda Yaccarino — the previous CEO of X — were summoned for “voluntary interviews,” while other employees of X were scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, in accordance with the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Musk was summoned after a search took place in February on the French premises of X as a part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Musk and Yaccarino had been invited of their capacities as managers of X on the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.
“These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to permit them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement,” prosecutors said. “At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is a component of a constructive approach, with the last word objective of ensuring that platform X complies with French law, insofar because it operates throughout the national territory.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press that Musk and Yaccarino’s potential no-show on Monday “will not be an obstacle for investigations to proceed” ahead of the meeting.
In a later statement to the BBC on Monday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it had “taken note of the absence of the people summoned,” without naming Musk.
When asked for comment earlier on Monday, X pointed the BBC to a post by Musk on the social media platform from February, calling the probe a “political attack.”
What’s being investigated?
French authorities opened their investigation after reports from a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automatic data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust (against the law in France) and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.
Authorities are looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automatic data processing system as a part of an organized group, together with other charges.
X has previously denied any wrongdoing and referred to the allegations as “baseless.”
Following the raid at X’s Paris office in February, the social media platform’s Global Government Affairs team wrote, “French judicial authorities raided X’s Paris office today in reference to a politicized criminal investigation into alleged manipulation of algorithms and purported fraudulent data extraction.”
“We’re disenchanted by this development, but we are usually not surprised. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s office widely publicized the raid — making clear that today’s motion was an abusive act of law enforcement theater designed to realize illegitimate political objectives quite than advance legitimate law enforcement goals rooted within the fair and impartial administration of justice,” the statement said.
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X’s Global Government Affairs team accused the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office of “plainly attempting to exert pressure on X’s senior management in america by targeting our French entity and employees, who are usually not the main target of this investigation.”
“The Prosecutor’s Office has ignored the established procedural mechanisms to acquire evidence in compliance with international treaties and X’s rights to defend itself,” the statement continued. “These procedural mechanisms are well-known and used every day by judicial authorities around the globe.”
“The allegations underlying today’s raid are baseless and X categorically denies any wrongdoing.”
The team said that X is “committed to defending its fundamental rights and the rights of its users.”
“We is not going to be intimidated by the actions of French judicial authorities today,” the statement concluded.
French prosecutors alert U.S. authorities
In March, the Paris prosecutor’s office alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the U.S. federal agency liable for regulating and overseeing financial markets — suggesting “that the controversy surrounding sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok can have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the worth of the businesses X and xAI — potentially constituting criminal offenses,” prosecutors said.
The prosecutor’s office also said this might have been done “ahead of the planned June 2026 stock market listing of the brand new entity formed by the merger of SpaceX and xAI, at a time when company X was clearly losing momentum.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department told French authorities it wouldn’t help facilitate their efforts to research Musk’s X. The outlet reported that the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs accused Paris prosecutors of inappropriately using its justice system to interfere with an American business.
In a two-page letter sent last week, the Justice Department also said that France’s requests for U.S. assistance “constitute an effort to entangle america in a politically charged criminal proceeding geared toward wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”
Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, shared the article in a post and wrote, “The Justice Department just told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn’t facilitate their efforts to research X. @TheJusticeDept accused France of abusing its criminal justice system to focus on an American company and censor free speech — in clear violation of the First Amendment.”
Musk quoted Miller’s post on X, writing, “Indeed, this must stop.”
In an announcement to Global News, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office said it “learned from the press of the existence of a letter that may have been published by the international affairs office of the US Department of Justice.”
“In any case, it’s vital to recall that the French structure guarantees the separation of powers and the independence of the judicial authority. Criminal investigations are carried out under the only authority of the magistrates,” the statement added.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation opened in January 2025 “concerns possible violations by Platform X of French laws, which it must obviously comply with on French territory.”
X under scrutiny in other countries
X has also been under scrutiny from the European Union. The 27-nation bloc opened an investigation in January after Grok allegedly published “manipulated sexually explicit images, including content which will amount to child sexual abuse material.”
Brussels has already fined X 120 million euros for shortcomings under the union’s sweeping digital regulations, including blue checkmarks that broke rules on “deceptive design practices” and risked exposing users to scams and manipulation.
In January, Canada’s privacy watchdog expanded its investigation into X and announced the investigation would grow to incorporate xAI, following reports that Grok is getting used to create explicit images of people without their consent.
“The investigations will examine whether X Corp. and xAI are meeting their obligations under Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA),” according to a news release from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
“The use of private information without consent to create deepfakes, including intimate images, is a growing phenomenon that poses serious risks to individuals’ fundamental right to privacy. I actually have decided to expand my investigation to deal with this issue given its importance and the potential serious harms that it might cause to Canadians,” said Philippe Dufresne, Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Ashley St. Clair sues Elon Musk’s xAI over AI-deepfake images
Musk’s xAI was sued by Ashley St. Clair, the mother of Musk’s son Romulus, in January after she alleged Grok created explicit sexual images of her without her consent.
St. Clair filed the lawsuit in Recent York on Jan. 15. It alleges she had notified xAI that users were creating illicit deepfake photos of her “in sexually explicit poses.”
She requested that the Grok service be prevented from creating non-consensual images, according to the legal documents obtained by NBC News and viewed by Global News.
“xAI’s product Grok, a generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) chatbot, uses AI to undress, humiliate, and sexually exploit victims — creating real looking, altered deep fake content of youngsters covered in semen, women stripped naked and in sexually explicit bikinis, and Holocaust survivors in bikinis in front of concentration camps,” the lawsuit reads.
St. Clair claims that Grok “created and disseminated altered, deepfake content” of her on the social media platform X “as a toddler stripped all the way down to a string bikini, and as an adult in sexually explicit poses.”
(L-R): Ashley St. Clair alleges that Elon Musk has only met her son thrice.
@stclairashley / X / Getty Images
She reported the photographs to X and requested their removal, in accordance with the lawsuit. But as an alternative, she claims that Grok “proceeded to position warnings for ‘nudity, sexual content, violence, gore, or hateful symbols’” on St. Clair’s responses to Grok and deboosted her account while concurrently keeping the photographs up.”
The lawsuit states that because of this of the photographs, St. Clair has “suffered, and continues to suffer, serious personal injuries, including but not limited to emotional distress, psychological trauma, lack of privacy, reputational harm, and fear of continued dissemination.”
St. Clair is asking for xAI to stop using her image and is in search of monetary damages, including lawyer’s fees incurred.
After St. Clair filed her lawsuit in Recent York, it was transferred to the federal Southern District of Recent York after a request from xAI, according to court documents.
“xAI files this Notice of Removal solely for the aim of removing the fast Motion and doesn’t waive, and specifically reserves, any and all defenses, arguments, and affirmative matters,” the notice of removal reads.
The corporate then sued St. Clair in federal court in Texas, claiming she violated xAI’s terms of service, and requested damages of greater than $75,000.
It said that any claims against xAI should be filed in either federal court within the Northern District of Texas or in state courts in Tarrant County, Texas, because that’s where the corporate is predicated.
— With files from Global News’ Rachel Goodman and The Associated Press