PARIS (AP) 鈥 Elon Musk has been summoned to Paris on Monday, where investigators are looking into allegations of misconduct related to the social media platform X, including the spread of child sexual abuse material and deepfake content.
The world鈥檚 richest man and Linda Yaccarino 鈥 the former CEO of X 鈥 have been summoned for 鈥渧oluntary interviews," while other employees of the platform are scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, the Paris prosecutor鈥檚 office said.
It remains unclear whether Musk and Yaccarino will travel to Paris. A spokesperson for X did not respond to questions from The Associated Press and Yaccarino鈥檚 current company, eMed, did not answer a request sent to the press email.
French prosecutors also suspect that controversy around the platform鈥檚 AI system Grok's deepfakes was concocted to boost the value of Musk-owned companies ahead of a key market listing, and alerted U.S. authorities. Musk welcomed a report that U.S. justice officials refused to help French investigators, posting on X, 鈥淭his needs to stop.鈥
The reason for summoning Musk
Musk was summoned after in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor鈥檚 office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino from May 2023 until July 2025.
鈥淭hese 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,鈥 prosecutors said. 鈥淎t 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.鈥
The Paris prosecutor's office said Musk and Yaccarino's potential no-show on Monday 鈥渋s not an obstacle for investigations to continue.鈥
What is being investigated
French authorities opened their investigation after reports from a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, , generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.
It鈥檚 looking into alleged 鈥渃omplicity鈥 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 this year after it pumped out a torrent of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from X users.
Grok also wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the death camp were designed for 鈥渄isinfection with Zyklon B against typhus鈥 rather than for mass murder 鈥 language long associated with Holocaust denial.
In later posts on X, the chatbot reversed itself and acknowledged that its earlier reply was wrong, saying it had been deleted, and pointed to historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill more than 1 million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.
French prosecutors alert U.S. authorities
In March, the Paris prosecutor鈥檚 office alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 鈥 the U.S. federal agency responsible for regulating and overseeing financial markets 鈥 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 鈥 potentially constituting criminal offenses," prosecutors said.
The Paris prosecutor鈥檚 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.鈥
Justice Department brushes off French call
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn鈥檛 facilitate their efforts to investigate Musk鈥檚 X. The newspaper reported that the Justice Department鈥檚 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.
The letter also said France鈥檚 requests for U.S. assistance 鈥渃onstitute 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.鈥
French judicial authorities didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comments.
Investigations launched into several internet platforms
The cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office has launched in recent years a series of investigations focusing on internet platforms' suspected illegal activities.
French-language website Coco, which was cited in that turned into a global , closed in 2024 as its manager is accused of complicity in spreading child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, among other things.
Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, was handed and for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform, including child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.
The Paris prosecutor鈥檚 office opened last year over allegations that the platform allows content promoting suicide and that its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it has lodged a new complaint against X with the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor鈥檚 office targeting "the platform鈥檚 policies that allow disinformation to flourish.''
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Associated Press reporter Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.
