Paris prosecutors raid Musk’s X offices as part of child abuse, deepfake probe; UK watchdog probes Grok
Britain's privacy watchdog launched an investigation into Grok over the processing of personal data and its potential to produce harmful sexualised images and video content.
Prosecutors have filed a request for “voluntary interviews” of Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X from 2023 to 2025, scheduled for April 20, (File)
French prosecutors Tuesday searched the offices of X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, as part of a preliminary investigation into a range of alleged offences, including the spreading of child sexual abuse images and sexually explicit deepfakes.
Separately, in Britain, the country’s privacy watchdog launched a formal investigation into Grok over the processing of personal data and its potential to produce harmful sexualised images and video content.
“The probe is into XIUC and X.AI,” the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement.
The investigation was opened in January last year by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutors’ office, which said in a statement that it is looking into alleged “complicity” in the possession and dissemination of pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organised group, among other charges.
In addition, prosecutors have filed a request for “voluntary interviews” of Musk and Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X from 2023 to 2025, scheduled for April 20. Employees of the platform have also been summoned that same week in April to be heard as witnesses, the statement said.
A spokesperson for X did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
In a message posted on X, the Paris prosecutors’ office announced the ongoing searches and said it was leaving the platform while calling on followers to join on other social media.
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“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law, as it operates on the national territory,” the prosecutors’ statement said.
The European Union’s police agency Europol “is supporting the French authorities in this”, Europol spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth told The Associated Press, without elaborating.
The investigation was initially opened following reports by a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X were likely to have distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It was later expanded after X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust and spread sexually explicit deepfakes, the statement said. Holocaust denial is a crime in France.
Grok wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass murder — language long associated with Holocaust denial.
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In later posts on its X account, the chatbot acknowledged that its earlier reply was wrong, said it had been deleted and pointed to historical evidence that Zyklon B in Auschwitz gas chambers was used to kill more than 1 million people.
Grok has a history of making antisemitic comments. Musk’s company has previously taken down posts from the chatbot that appeared to praise Adolf Hitler after complaints.
Timeline of legal crisis (2025–2026)
2025: The foundation of the probe
January 2025: French prosecutors’ cybercrime unit opens a preliminary investigation into X’s algorithms after reports of systemic bias and data manipulation.
May 2025: UK-EU summit establishes a new strategic partnership for law enforcement cooperation, streamlining data sharing for investigations like the one into X.
July 2025: Linda Yaccarino steps down as CEO of X.
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December 5, 2025: The European Commission fines X €120 million for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), citing misleading “blue check” badges and a lack of data access for researchers.
2026: The crackdown intensifies
January 7, 2026: The UK’s ICO makes “urgent contact” with X and xAI regarding Grok’s potential to produce harmful sexualized content.
January 12, 2026: UK media regulator Ofcom opens a formal investigation under the Online Safety Act, specifically looking at Grok’s role in creating “undressed” images of minors.
January 26, 2026: The European Commission launches new formal proceedings against X, investigating whether the platform properly mitigated risks before deploying Grok in the EU.
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February 3, 2026 (today): * Police raid: French investigators and Europol search X’s Paris headquarters.
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