Paris public prosecutor opens judicial investigation into Elon Musk and X

Paris' public prosecutor has opened a judicial investigation into Elon Musk's X social media platform, a new step in a probe over alleged abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data, the prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

The ‌latest legal ⁠development ⁠puts investigating judges in charge of the probe and ​follows tech billionaire Musk's failure to appear at an April ​20 summons for questioning.

The public prosecutor is requesting that judges place X.AI Holdings Corp, X Corp and ​xAI, as well as Elon ⁠Musk and ‌former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, under ​formal ​investigation.


This would be achieved by summoning ⁠them for that purpose, or, if they failed ​to appear, judges could issue a ​warrant which would be equivalent to putting them under formal investigation, the statement said.

Reuters could not immediately reach representatives for Musk or X. Kami Haeri, a lawyer for X, did not ‌immediately respond to a request for comment.

The investigation, which has been expanded in past ​months ​to include suspected ⁠complicity in the distribution of child pornography and the creation of sexual deepfakes by Grok, has added to ​strains in relations between the U.S. and Europe over Big Tech and free speech.

In July, Musk denied the initial accusations and said French prosecutors were launching a "politically motivated criminal investigation."