French Prosecutors Open Criminal Investigation Into Elon Musk’s X and xAI

French authorities escalated their long-running examination of Elon Musk and his companies into a formal criminal investigation on May 6, 2026. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the step on May 7 and said an introductory indictment had been filed on nine charges the previous day. AI Holdings Corp, X Corp and X AI, planning to summon them or issue warrants if they do not comply.

Musk and Yaccarino were issued summons to appear for a voluntary interview on April 20, 2026. Both declined to appear. Around 10 executives from the American company were also summoned, according to Le Monde.

The preliminary investigation by national cyber prosecutors began in summer 2025. It was launched in January 2025 at the request of French Member of Parliament Éric Bothorel and initially concerned allegations that X’s algorithm interfered in French politics. French authorities raided the Paris office of X in February 2026.

One of the nine charges is complicity in the possession of images of a minor of a pedo-pornographic nature, as well as the dissemination, offering, or making available — by an organized group — of images of a minor of a pornographic nature. Another charge is denial of crimes against humanity.

The investigation focuses on the distribution of child sexual abuse images, deepfakes, disinformation, and alleged complicity in denying crimes against humanity linked to Grok.

A separate strand of the probe examines alleged algorithmic manipulation by X to interfere in French politics and the spread of AI deepfake content on the social network. The inquiry includes allegations that Musk and X knowingly allowed users of Grok to create and spread Holocaust denials and nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfake images on X.

Grok had been used to generate sexualized images of women and children without their consent.

Grok is developed by xAI. xAI acquired X and earlier in 2026 merged with SpaceX. A version of Grok is integrated into electric vehicles made by Tesla. Linda Yaccarino is the former X CEO and now leads a telehealth company after resigning last year.

In February 2026, Musk called the probe a political attack. ” Musk has insisted the controversy was handled. The Department of Justice told French authorities it wouldn’t help investigate Musk or X and accused France of inappropriately interfering with an American business.

Other international jurisdictions are also investigating X and Grok, as is the California attorney general's office. The probes generally focus on whether Musk and his companies deliberately allowed for the creation and spread of deepfake explicit images, including child sexual abuse materials, based on photos or videos of nonconsenting individuals.

Musk failed to respond to a summons by the Paris prosecutor's office to appear for a voluntary interview on April 20.

The Paris prosecutor's office stated that the procedure aims to uphold the law and to protect individuals who have been victims of criminal offenses, both online and in real life. Representatives for Musk and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.