X’s French office searched as Paris prosecutor summons Elon Musk for questioning

Paris, France – The French authorities have asked Elon Musk to appear to answer questions as part of an investigation into social media platform X, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday, as authorities searched X’s office in the French capital.

“The summons for voluntary negotiations on April 20, 2026, in Paris was sent to Mr. Elon Musk and Ms. Linda Yaccarino, in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of the X platform during the events,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

French cybercrime authorities were conducting an investigation, meanwhile, at X’s offices in Paris, the prosecutor’s office said.

Musk and Yaccarino’s subpoenas and the search of X’s office were related to an investigation that began in January 2025 into complaints about how X’s algorithm recommends content to users and collects data, the prosecutor’s office said. In the past, officials have expressed concern that the way X works may amount to political interference.

The investigation is to ensure that X complies with French laws, and the prosecutor added that it was expanded last year after reports that X was allowing users to share non-consensual, AI-generated pornographic images and genocide denial content.

UX and Musk dismissed the French investigation, and similar investigations by European Union and British authorities, as baseless, politically motivated attacks on free speech.

Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of X in July last year after two years at the helm of the company.

The investigation is being led by the cybercrime unit of the prosecutor’s office, in cooperation with the French police and the European police organization Europol.

CBS news investigation found late last month that i Grok AI tool Musk’s X platform still allows users in the US, UK and EU to digitally strip people without their consent, despite public promises from the company to stop the practice.

The Grok chatbot, both through its standalone app and premium X account holders using the platform, allowed people to use artificial intelligence to edit photos of real people and show them in revealing clothes like bikinis.

A request for comment on the findings of the CBS News investigation was met with an automatic response from Musk’s company xAI, saying only: “The legacy stories are false.”

Scrutiny of the Grok feature has grown rapidly in recent months, with the British government warning UX could face a UK-wide ban if it fails to block the “bikini-fy” tool, with EU regulators announcing their investigation into Grok AI’s programming activity in late January.

CBS News has learned that Grok is still allowing users to digitally undress people in photos weeks after X said, in early January, that it had “implemented technical measures to prevent [@]The Grok account on X is all over the world from allowing the editing of photos of real people to revealing clothing like bikinis. This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”