PARIS, France: French prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation targeting Elon Musk and social media platform X over allegations involving child sexual abuse images, sexually explicit deepfakes, unlawful data practices and content generated by the company's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
The Paris public prosecutor's office said Wednesday it is seeking charges including complicity in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, unlawful collection of personal data, dissemination of non-consensual images and denial of crimes against humanity.
The investigation also focuses on alleged manipulation of automated data processing systems by an organised group.
X and its parent company SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The probe comes less than three weeks after Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino were summoned for what French authorities described as voluntary interviews. Neither appeared, though prosecutors said the investigation would continue regardless.
French authorities said the case began after complaints from a French lawmaker alleging that X's algorithms may have distorted the functioning of automated data systems.
The investigation later widened following controversy surrounding Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI and integrated into X.
Prosecutors said they are examining allegations that Grok generated sexually explicit deepfake images without consent and produced content denying the Holocaust, which is illegal under French law.
The chatbot triggered outrage earlier this year after users shared AI-generated sexualised deepfake images created through the platform.
Grok also drew criticism after a widely circulated French-language post claimed gas chambers at the The Holocaust camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau were designed for "disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus" rather than mass murder, language historically associated with Holocaust denial.
The chatbot later reversed its position in subsequent posts, acknowledging the earlier response was incorrect and citing historical evidence showing Zyklon B was used to kill more than one million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.
French prosecutors said they are also investigating whether the controversy surrounding Grok's sexually explicit deepfakes may have been intentionally amplified to boost the value of X and xAI.
In March, the Paris prosecutor's office said it alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission about concerns that the incidents "may have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of the companies X and xAI — potentially constituting criminal offenses."
The investigation follows a search conducted in February at X's French offices as part of a cybercrime inquiry opened earlier this year.
Musk and Yaccarino were summoned in their capacities as managers of X during the period under investigation.
