French authorities have summoned billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk as part of an ongoing investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, and its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
Prosecutors have filed requests for voluntary interviews with Musk, the owner of X, and the platform’s former chief executive officer, Linda Yaccarino, amid growing scrutiny over the company’s operations in France.
On Tuesday, a joint team of French police officers and Europol operatives conducted a search of X’s Paris office as part of the probe. Both Musk and Yaccarino are expected to appear for questioning on April 20.
The investigation is reportedly focused on the alleged misuse of Grok AI, including accusations that the chatbot has been used to generate sexualized images of women and minors, as well as other potentially unlawful content.
Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the operation was aimed at ensuring that X “complies with French law, as it operates on national territory.”
According to a list of allegations released by French authorities, the probe includes claims of defamation through deepfake content of a sexual nature, denial of crimes against humanity such as the Holocaust, and the operation of an illegal online platform by an organized group.
Other allegations involve complicity in the possession and distribution of prohibited images involving minors, as well as the fraudulent extraction of data from automated data processing systems.
Musk, who is also the chief executive officer of Tesla, has not issued an official statement on the raid or investigation. However, the world’s richest man has reposted several comments on X criticizing the French authorities’ actions.
The tech billionaire has frequently accused European governments of censorship and political interference. Meanwhile, additional European countries, including Spain and the United Kingdom, have reportedly indicated interest in launching their own investigations into X and its Grok AI system.