A sweeping criminal investigation in France has pulled Elon Musk into its orbit, escalating global scrutiny over the social media platform X amid explosive allegations involving child sexual abuse material, deepfake imagery, and potential algorithmic manipulation.

The billionaire has been summoned to Paris for voluntary interviews as authorities probe what they describe as serious potential criminal offenses tied to content circulating on his platform. The case now sits at the center of a widening transatlantic legal and political clash over free expression, AI moderation, and platform responsibility.

Musk and X Leadership Called to Paris

Elon Musk has been summoned to Paris as part of an investigation into child sex abuse material and deepfakes on his social media platform X.

He has been summoned for “voluntary interviews” on Monday, alongside Linda Yaccarino, X’s former CEO.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said that other employees of the platform will be heard as witnesses throughout the week.

It is unclear whether Musk and Yaccarino will travel to France. A spokesperson for X did not respond to questions and Yaccarino’s current company, eMed, did not answer a request sent to the press email.

Musk was summoned after a February search at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office.

He and Yaccarino, who was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025, have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events under investigation.

“These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to allow them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement,” prosecutors said.

“At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that platform X complies with French law, insofar as it operates within the national territory.”

Asked whether Musk would risk sanctions if he skipped the hearing, the Paris prosecutor's office declined to comment.

Explosive Allegations Driving the Investigation

French authorities opened their investigation after reports from French politicians alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system.

The probe escalated after the platform's AI system, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.

Investigators are examining alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity, and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.

Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage this year after it produced sexualised nonconsensual deepfake images in response to user requests.

The chatbot also posted claims in French suggesting gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than mass murder.

It later reversed course, acknowledging the statement was incorrect and pointing to historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill more than 1 million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.

French Prosecutors Alert US Authorities Over Market Impact Claims

In March, the Paris prosecutor’s office alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating financial markets, suggesting "that the controversy surrounding sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok may have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of the companies X and xAI — potentially constituting criminal offenses," prosecutors said.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said this could have been done "ahead of the planned June 2026 stock market listing of the new entity formed by the merger of Space X and xAI, at a time when company X was clearly losing momentum.”

US Justice Department Pushes Back

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department told French law enforcement authorities that it would not facilitate their efforts to investigate Musk’s X.

The newspaper reported that the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, in a two-page letter last week, accused the French of inappropriately using its justice system to interfere with an American business.

“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” said the letter quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

The letter also said France’s requests for U.S. assistance “constitute an effort to entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”

French judicial authorities didn’t respond to requests for comments.

Watchdog Group Escalates Pressure on X

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders said it has lodged a new complaint against X with the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office.

It "targets the platform’s policies that allow disinformation to flourish,” RSF said, accusing the company of repeated violations of the public’s right to reliable information.

“Disinformation campaigns are flooding X, some of which have accumulated several hundred thousand views. Although the staff at Elon Musk’s platform are well aware of the situation, this has not stopped them from responding to RSF’s repeated alerts with automated refusals to remove the content in question," RSF said.

“This is a deliberate policy instated by X, and it is incompatible with the public’s right to reliable information.”

As the investigation expands, Musk now finds himself at the center of a high stakes legal confrontation spanning Paris, Washington, and the rapidly evolving frontier of artificial intelligence moderation.