Musk’s X office in Paris raided by police amid growing scrutiny in Europe

Paris: French police raided the offices of Elon Musk’s social media network

The French raid and Musk’s summoning – which could further fuel tensions between Europe and the US over big tech and freedom of expression – are linked to a year-long investigation into suspected misuse of algorithms and fraudulent data mining by X or its executives.

Meanwhile, the UK’s privacy watchdog has launched a formal investigation into Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, over its processing of personal data and its potential to produce harmful, sexualized images and video content.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it had expanded the scope of the investigation following complaints about Grok’s operation.

The French investigation will now investigate alleged complicity in the “detention and dissemination” of child pornographic images and the violation of one’s image rights with sexually explicit deepfakes, among other possible crimes.

Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino were summoned to the hearing on April 20. Other X employees were also called as witnesses.

There was no immediate comment from X. In July, Musk denied the initial accusations and said French prosecutors had opened a “politically motivated criminal investigation.”

“At this stage, conducting this investigation is part of a constructive approach, aimed at ensuring the compliance of the X platform with French law as long as it operates on national territory,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Such subpoenas are mandatory, although more difficult to enforce on people who do not live in France.

Following such a hearing, authorities may decide to shelve or continue the investigation and potentially detain suspects.

Extend probes towards X

Meanwhile, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office said it was investigating the xAI chatbot following reports that Grok was being used to create sexual images of individuals, including children, without their consent.

Britain’s media regulator Ofcom also said it was determining the next steps in its investigation into X, which launched last month, but gave few details.

Ofcom is trying to assess whether the company is doing enough to reduce the risk of sexual deepfakes spreading on the social media platform. But it said it did not investigate xAI, which operates the Grok chatbot, because it falls outside the scope of existing law.

Last week, the European Union also launched an investigation into X following public outcry over the spread of manipulated content and sought to assess whether he was disseminating illegal content.
Sexualized images of Grok.

The chatbot continues to create sexualized images of people even when users explicitly warn that the subjects have not consented, Reuters found.

xAI placed some restrictions on Grok’s rendering functionality in response to backlash last month.

The cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office is conducting the investigation in France, together with the French police’s own cybercrime unit and Europol. The unit had previously arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov in 2024 on charges including complicity in organized crime carried out on the messaging app, and his lawyer described these charges as “absurd”.

The prosecutor’s office said it launched the investigation after being contacted by a legislator who alleged that biased algorithms in X may have impaired the functioning of the automated data processing system.

“I am glad to see that my complaint in January 2025 yielded results!” MP Eric Bothorel said of X: “In Europe, especially in France, the Rule of Law means that no one is above the law.”

The prosecution also said that he left social media platform X and will now communicate via LinkedIn and Instagram. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and Instagram is owned by Meta.

Reuters

Take notes directly from our foreign country reporters about things that make headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.