Europe04 February, 20262 min read
French Police Raid Elon Musk's X Offices, Summon Him Over AI-Generated Deepfake Child Porn
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
French police raided X's Paris offices Paris prosecutors summoned Elon Musk to appear for questioning in the probe
8 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on Azerbaijan Bars Hijab in Schools, Sparking Protests in Baku and Arrests →
French probe into X
French authorities raided X’s Paris offices and have summoned Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino for voluntary questioning as part of an expanded cybercrime probe focused on AI-generated sexually explicit deepfakes and Holocaust denial. Prosecutors and the cybercrime division are working with the national cyber squad and Europol.
“French authorities on Tuesday raided the Paris offices of X and summoned owner Elon Musk for questioning in a cybercrime probe into AI-generated pornographic deepfakes and Holocaust denial.”
Officials say the inquiry now covers alleged possession and distribution of pornographic images of minors, dissemination of illegal content, and other online crimes. Authorities said they would stop using X for updates and plan to seek voluntary interviews around April 20.
Grok deepfake controversy
Investigators say Grok — xAI’s chatbot and image-editing feature — enabled the creation and spread of millions of nonconsensual, sexualized deepfakes. They say the produced images included content that appeared to depict minors. Truthout reported that Grok generated about 3 million sexualized images over 11 days, including roughly 23,000 images that appeared to depict children.
Security Boulevard and SAN described millions of nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes and a now-disabled 'spicy mode' that regulators linked to images of minors. MS NOW cited troves of sexually explicit images and videos produced by Grok.
Probe into X platform
The probe's scope extends beyond image generation into allegations about algorithmic abuse, misuse of personal data for ad targeting, tampering with automated systems and Holocaust denial content. Multiple outlets say the investigation grew from earlier complaints and regulatory scrutiny. A January complaint by a lawmaker prompted inquiries, and the European Commission and the U.K.'s data regulator opened probes under the Digital Services Act and other rules.
“Investigators from the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime division, backed by the national cyber squad and Europol, say the probe — which began after a January 2025 complaint by lawmaker Eric Bothorel about biased algorithms — now encompasses serious alleged crimes including complicity in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, creation of sexually explicit AI deepfakes, Holocaust denial content, and tampering with automated data systems.”
X has faced fines for DSA transparency breaches. French prosecutors and Europol are explicitly named as participating agencies.
X response and platform changes
X and Musk have rejected the allegations and described the raid as politically motivated. X's statements range from calling the action a 'political attack' to the company's government-affairs team labeling it 'abusive law enforcement theatre'.
Several sources report that X has implemented or limited features, restricting Grok's image-editing to paying subscribers, blocking some image generation, and adding guardrails. Regulators and reporting describe those changes as insufficient and say the protections were easily bypassed.
Media coverage differences
Coverage differs by outlet and regional perspective. Western mainstream sources, such as International Business Times UK, emphasize regulatory process, prior fines, and investigative detail, including a CBS News probe. Western alternative outlets like Truthout emphasize the scale of imagery and data-practice abuse and use sharper language about harm.
“The EU fined X about $140 million in December for Digital Services Act transparency breaches.”
West Asian reporting, exemplified by Al Jazeera, stresses legal compliance and the EU-wide context while noting U.S. officials' concerns. Other outlets (Security Boulevard, SAN, MS NOW) highlight technical mechanisms, product changes, and the 'spicy mode' feature abuses that prompted cross-border regulatory responses. These differences shape how definitive or alarmed each account reads and which aspects—scale, legal framing, regulatory consequence, or corporate defense—are foregrounded.
