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Elon Musk has been summoned by French authorities for a voluntary interview as part of an ongoing investigation into his social media platform, X, over the spread of deepfake content and other serious allegations.
The probe, launched in January 2025, initially centred on claims that X’s algorithm may have been used to interfere in French political processes. It has since expanded to include the circulation of Holocaust denial material and sexually manipulated images linked to the platform’s AI tool, Grok.
French prosecutors had earlier carried out a search at X’s Paris office in February, a move the company criticised, describing it as “politicized” and an “abusive judicial act.”
Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino were both summoned as “de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events,” a development Musk dismissed as a “political attack.”
Yaccarino stepped down from her role in July last year, but the investigation has continued to gather pace, drawing in more company officials.
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Prosecutors confirmed that staff members have also been asked to appear between April 20 and 24 “to be heard as witnesses,” noting that failure to attend would not halt proceedings.
At the centre of the case are allegations involving illegal content and the denial of crimes against humanity, placing the platform under intense legal scrutiny in Europe.
The controversy has been fuelled by reports that Grok was used to generate millions of explicit manipulated images within days, raising fresh concerns about the regulation of artificial intelligence tools.
Reacting to the situation, Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov criticised French authorities, saying, “Macron’s France is losing legitimacy as it weaponises criminal investigations to suppress free speech and privacy.”
With similar probes already underway in the United Kingdom and across the European Union, the case is shaping up to be a defining test of how governments handle AI-driven platforms and online content control.
