French prosecutors open probe into X, xAI over deepfakes

After the Paris public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into X over alleged sexualized deepfakes and child sexual abuse material last week, the platform’s owner, Elon Musk lashed out at French authorities.

Paris prosecutors are examining X and its leadership over the alleged dissemination of sexualized deepfakes, as well as potential complicity in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material linked to the platform’s AI chatbot Grok. The probe also covers possible unlawful collection and processing of personal data, according to a statement published on Thursday.

Musk responded to the news on Friday, writing to his followers on X: “They’re faker than a chocolate euro and queerer than a pink flamingo in a neon tutu!”

In last week’s announcement, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it has requested that proceedings be initiated against xAI Holdings Corp., X Corp. and xAI, as well as Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, “by summoning them for this purpose and to gather their comments, or, in the event of non-compliance, by issuing a warrant equivalent to an indictment.”

One angle under examination could include financial motives, Le Monde reports, including whether the dissemination of deepfakes was linked to efforts to increase the valuation of X and xAI ahead of a potential public offering.

The billionaire tech CEO has faced mounting scrutiny from French authorities. The Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime division previously opened an investigation into X following allegations that the platform was used to interfere in French political discourse.

Since the introduction of Grok, the probe has broadened to include the alleged sharing of non-consensual sexualized deepfakes and content amounting to denial of crimes against humanity.

Musk and Yaccarino did not attend a voluntary interview requested by the cybercrime division on April 20. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly declined to cooperate with French authorities on the investigation.

X and xAI are also facing regulatory pressure in other jurisdictions. The platform is under investigation by the European Commission under the Digital Services Act, while authorities in Spain, Malaysia, the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands have launched related inquiries.

In the U.S., Grok is facing scrutiny from the California Attorney General, while class-action lawsuits allege negligence in the chatbot’s safety guardrails.

Regulatory pressure is also increasing. Last week, the European Union reached a provisional agreement on updates to the Artificial Intelligence Act that include restrictions on non-consensual sexualized deepfakes.

In mid-April, separate reporting indicated that Grok was still capable of generating such content despite earlier commitments by the company to strengthen safeguards and restrict image-generation tools.

Article Topics

chatbots  |  deepfakes  |  France  |  generative AI  |  Grok  |  xAI