France is ramping up its investigation into X owner Elon Musk and his social media platform by announcing a slew of criminal charges pertaining to multiple scandals.
In a press release on Thursday, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office said an introductory indictment was filed on nine charges the day before. The first charge is for “complicity in the possession of images of a minor of a pedo-pornographic nature, as well as the dissemination, offering, or making available — by an organized group — of images of a minor of a pornographic nature,” according to the office.
French authorities are referring to the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes by Grok, the built-in artificial intelligence chatbot for X, in recent months. Grok had been used to generate sexualized images of women and children without their consent.
Musk has insisted the controversy was handled, but France feels otherwise.
That is why French prosecutors summoned Musk to answer questions last month. Ultimately, he did not attend the voluntary interview. The same was true of former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who leads a telehealth company after resigning from the social media company last year.
The investigation, launched in January 2025, initially concerned allegations that X’s algorithm interfered in French politics and was later expanded to include more recent controversies plaguing X. In addition to the sexual deepfakes, allegations of Holocaust denialism were also brought against X.
Among the new criminal charges is denial of crimes against humanity, which was facilitated by Grok. The criminal offenses were only suspected before the indictment.
French officials raided X’s Paris office in February, leading Musk to accuse the European country of leading a politically motivated investigation into the U.S.-based business. The Department of Justice reportedly felt the same way, rebuffing France’s request to assist in the investigation.
ELON MUSK SKIPS VOLUNTARY INTERVIEW FOR FRENCH INVESTIGATION INTO X AND GROK
It remains to be seen what happens next in the judicial investigation. But if Musk and Yaccarino don’t comply with the latest summons request, they will be served a warrant.
Musk has been extremely vocal on social media about the case, once calling French prosecutors leading the investigation “mentally retarded.” As of Thursday night, the billionaire did not appear to comment on the latest development.