French prosecutors have opened a formal criminal investigation into Elon Musk and social media platform X over charges including complicity in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, producing sexually explicit AI-generated deepfakes, and denying crimes against humanity. The escalation, announced on May 7 by the Paris public prosecutor’s office, drew a sharp rebuke from Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov, who accused France of engaging in the very privacy violations it is leveling against X.
A Widening Investigation
The probe traces back to January 2025, when the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office began looking into allegations from a French lawmaker that biased algorithms on X had distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. The investigation expanded after Grok, the AI chatbot built by Musk’s xAI and accessible through X, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust — a crime under French law — and produced a wave of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to user requests.
In February, French authorities raided X’s offices in Paris and summoned Musk and Linda Yaccarino, the platform’s former CEO, for voluntary interviews scheduled for April 21. On May 7, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it was formally seeking charges against Musk and X, adding allegations of unlawful collection of personal data and dissemination of nonconsensual content.
French prosecutors have also raised suspicions that the deepfake controversy may have been “deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of the companies X and xAI” ahead of a planned June 2026 stock market listing of a new entity formed by the merger of SpaceX and xAI. In March, the prosecutor’s office notified the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission of those concerns.
U.S. Pushback and Durov’s Response
The Trump administration has resisted cooperation. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department sent a two-page letter to French law enforcement refusing to assist and accusing France of “misusing their justice system to interfere with an American business”. Musk endorsed the refusal, posting on X, “This needs to stop”.
On Sunday, Durov weighed in with a series of posts on X accusing France of hypocrisy. “The French government is accusing X of the very things the French government itself is doing,” he wrote, alleging that France is “illegally harvesting its citizens’ data” while pursuing X for similar conduct. Durov called the investigation an “immoral assault” and urged the international community to “stand with Elon Musk and X”. He also alleged that French authorities are “panicking” and attempting to “silence free speech platforms” ahead of what he predicted would be a major political shift in 2027.
Broader Regulatory Pressure
Durov’s own history with French law enforcement adds a layer of irony to his remarks. He was arrested at a Paris airport in 2024 and indicted on charges of being complicit in crimes committed through Telegram, including child exploitation. He has since been allowed to leave France while the case continues.
X faces regulatory pressure beyond France. The European Union launched a separate inquiry after the Grok deepfake episode, and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has opened formal investigations into how X and xAI handle personal data. The EU has already fined X 120 million euros for violations of its digital regulations.
