{"id":40778,"date":"2026-02-03T13:44:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=40778"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:44:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:44:33","slug":"french-prosecutors-raid-elon-musks-x-offices-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=40778","title":{"rendered":"French prosecutors raid Elon Musk\u2019s X offices in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=3a47f27f-6ecb-429e-86fa-e8b8d78b0784\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Elon Musk\u2019s X offices in Paris were raided by French and European investigators on Tuesday, following a public outcry over how its Grok chatbot spread sexualised images of women and children. <\/p>\n<p>French prosecutors also summoned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/stream\/fdf71598-69ee-4801-a704-df53f01ef286\" title=\"\" data-trackable=\"link\">Musk<\/a> and Linda Yaccarino, X\u2019s former chief executive, for \u201cvoluntary interviews\u201d in Paris in April, as part of their wide-ranging investigation into the social media platform. <\/p>\n<p>The raids came as the UK\u2019s Information Commissioner\u2019s Office (ICO) announced it was launching a new investigation into both X and its sister company xAI, saying it had \u201cserious concerns\u201d about Grok\u2019s use of personal data and \u201cits\u00a0potential to\u00a0produce\u00a0harmful sexualised image and video content\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Musk has come <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/f5ed0160-7098-4e63-88e5-8b3f70499b02\" title=\"\" data-trackable=\"link\">under scrutiny<\/a> from regulators around the world over the past month after people began using Grok to generate deepfakes of people without consent.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators from the Paris public prosecutor\u2019s office, the national cyber crimes unit and Europol were involved in the search on Tuesday. The French probe was launched last year into X\u2019s algorithms, but has since been widened to examine the spread of AI-generated sexual abuse material as well as posts denying crimes against humanity. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"sobcgxhb\" class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3A04be0ce8-618f-4881-9740-4226053ead6d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3A04be0ce8-618f-4881-9740-4226053ead6d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3A04be0ce8-618f-4881-9740-4226053ead6d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"2289\" height=\"1525\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Ae7508bda-4e41-4151-9ee5-20a67e7413c7?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Ae7508bda-4e41-4151-9ee5-20a67e7413c7?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Ae7508bda-4e41-4151-9ee5-20a67e7413c7?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1527\" height=\"1527\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"n-content-picture__caption o3-editorial-typography-caption\"><span>Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino in 2023. The pair have been invited to attend \u2018voluntary interviews\u2019 in Paris in April<\/span><span> <!-- -->\u00a9 Rebecca Blackwell\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe conduct of this investigation is, at this stage, part of a constructive approach, with the objective of ultimately ensuring the compliance of X with French laws,\u201d the prosecutor\u2019s office said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The probe is preliminary and no charges have yet been made.\u00a0X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The UK\u2019s ICO on Tuesday said it was working with the country\u2019s media regulator Ofcom, which is at present gathering evidence for its own investigation into X. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are progressing the investigation as a matter of urgency,\u201d Ofcom said, adding that such probes took \u201ctypically months\u201d to complete. <\/p>\n<p>Last month, Ofcom launched its investigation into X, the platform where the offending content was distributed, but it is not yet tackling xAI, because the UK\u2019s Online Safety Act does not yet apply to all AI chatbots. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"avgffyto\" class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Adac2472c-8d0b-4819-b7e1-76ffe5e7c189?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Adac2472c-8d0b-4819-b7e1-76ffe5e7c189?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Adac2472c-8d0b-4819-b7e1-76ffe5e7c189?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"2256\" height=\"1504\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Acf644ad8-7c84-4a5e-96bc-55a2b8fc3c35?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Acf644ad8-7c84-4a5e-96bc-55a2b8fc3c35?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/ftcms%3Acf644ad8-7c84-4a5e-96bc-55a2b8fc3c35?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1504\" height=\"1504\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.ft.com\/v3\/image\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2Fdac2472c-8d0b-4819-b7e1-76ffe5e7c189.jpg?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1\" alt=\"A smartphone displays the Grok chatbot login page, with a blurred image of a woman in a black dress on a laptop screen in the background.\" data-image-type=\"image\" width=\"2256\" height=\"1504\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"n-content-picture__caption o3-editorial-typography-caption\"><span>The EU has opened its own formal investigation into xAI for Grok\u2019s spread of sexualised images of women and children<\/span><span> <!-- -->\u00a9 Imago\/Alamy  <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Both X and xAI are already part of the same company, which is controlled by Musk. The group is set to become part of Musk\u2019s rocket company SpaceX under a $1.25tn deal announced on Monday. <\/p>\n<p>After facing pressure from governments around the world, X last month implemented what it called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/72c2a5b7-e10d-4e7c-8af0-e95b64d99d79\" title=\"\" data-trackable=\"link\">\u201ctechnological measures\u201d<\/a> to prevent the AI tool from being used to manipulate photos of real people, and limited image creation and editing to paying subscribers. <\/p>\n<p>Musk has said users who use Grok to generate illegal content \u201cwill suffer the same consequences\u201d as those uploading illegal materials. <\/p>\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"aside-label\" class=\"n-content-recommended--single-story n-content-recommended--inset\" data-component=\"recommended\">\n<p class=\"n-content-recommended__title o3-type-body-highlight\">Recommended<\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser o-teaser--article o-teaser--small o-teaser--stacked o-teaser--has-image js-teaser\" data-id=\"117af7cc-3fe6-4292-a706-7204b82bb8dc\">\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-container js-teaser-image-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/117af7cc-3fe6-4292-a706-7204b82bb8dc\" data-trackable=\"image-link\" data-trackable-context-story-link=\"image-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-placeholder\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2493\/1402\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"o-teaser__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ft.com%2Fv3%2Fimage%2Fraw%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%252Fproduction%252Faab04495-37f2-41a7-af72-92e106a6be27.jpg%3Fsource%3Dnext-article%26fit%3Dscale-down%26quality%3Dhighest%26width%3D700%26dpr%3D1?source=next&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;dpr=2&amp;width=240\" alt=\"Elon Musk in a suit appears in front of the XAI and Grok logos on a black background with a red border.\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The EU also opened a formal investigation into xAI for Grok\u2019s spread of sexualised images of women and children at the end of January under the bloc\u2019s Digital Services Act. Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily banned the chatbot altogether but have subsequently lifted those restrictions, as the governments continue to monitor the service. <\/p>\n<p>The latest confrontation between European regulators and an American tech group is likely to inflame tensions with the US administration and free speech advocates. President Donald Trump has already claimed that the EU unfairly targets US tech companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The raid on X\u2019s Paris office is not the first time that French justice has attempted to hold social media platform owners responsible for content spread on their networks. <\/p>\n<p>French authorities arrested Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram, when he landed at a Paris airport on a private jet in August 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Durov, who has French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was placed under formal investigation in Paris in 2024 over the app\u2019s alleged failure to address criminality, including child abuse content. Durov has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrance is the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom (Telegram, X, TikTok\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009). Don\u2019t be mistaken: this is not a free country,\u201d Durov wrote on X on Tuesday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/3a47f27f-6ecb-429e-86fa-e8b8d78b0784\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":40779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tech","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}