X’s Paris offices were raided on Tuesday (Feb. 3) over accusations of the spread of child sexual abuse images and deepfakes.
As reported by the Associated Press, French prosecutors have launched a preliminary investigation into Musk’s company, which has faced criticism for the alleged spread of child sexual abuse images and sexually suggestive deepfakes of women. Several users on X utilized Grok, built by Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, to produce non-consensual images of women and children, which prompted the state of California to send a cease and desist letter last month.
French prosecutors first opened an investigation into X in January 2025 after a French lawmaker alleged that X manipulated its automated data processing system, resulting in biased algorithms. The prosecutors’ cybercrime unit is looking into allegations that X has been complicit in the spread of child sexual abuse images, sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images, denying crimes against humanity, and manipulating its automated data processing system. Prosecutors have announced that Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who left amid controversies regarding Grok last year, will need to attend “voluntary interviews” on April 20.
Per CNN, prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the initial investigation, which centered on the abuse of algorithms, has since been widened to include the alleged circulation of “sexual deepfakes” and “Holocaust denial content.”
X has yet to respond to the investigation or the raid by Paris prosecutors, but the company’s French lawyer, Kami Haeri, said, “We are not making any comment at this stage.” The Paris prosecutors’ office announced the search of X’s offices in France in a message posted on the platform on Tuesday and also revealed that it will be leaving the platform. “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,” reads the statement.
Musk’s platform is also running into issues in Britain, where the country’s Information Commissioner's Office said it’s looking into allegations that the company broke the law when handling the personal data of users and allowing Grok to generate “harmful manipulated images” from user prompts. There’s also an ongoing separate investigation into Grok by UK media regulator Ofcom.
Last month, California Attorney General Robert Bonta sent a cease-and-desist letter ordering xAI to halt any AI-generated nonconsensual sexualized imagery on the platform. “The avalanche of reports detailing this material—at times depicting women and children engaged in sexual activity—is shocking and, as my office has determined, potentially illegal,” Bonta said. Ashley St. Clair, who gave birth to one of Musk’s 14 publicly known children, also filed a lawsuit against xAI after X users allegedly prompted Grok to produce sexually explicit images of her when she was 14.