Police Raid X’s Paris Offices Amid Investigations
The Paris public prosecutor’s cybercrime team, with assistance from Europol and local police, conducted a raid at the offices of X in Paris. This operation is part of a broader investigation looking into several allegations against the social media platform. These include the generation and sharing of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, content denying the Holocaust, algorithmic bias, and illegal data extraction.
The timing of the raid is noteworthy, occurring just a day after Elon Musk, the owner of X, shared news of SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI. This merger aims to integrate Grok AI closely with SpaceX’s operations, tightening Musk’s technological network.
“This isn’t just a new chapter; it’s like starting a whole new book in the mission of SpaceX and xAI: creating a sentient sun to explore the universe and share consciousness,” Musk stated.
This investigation traces back to early 2025 and has expanded its focus to include Grok, the AI chatbot from X. Following this, both Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino, who left her position last July, received voluntary court notifications in April.
However, it remains uncertain whether the French judiciary can legally compel Musk or Yaccarino, both U.S.-based, to appear in court. Several employees from the French branch have been summoned as witnesses.
Coinciding with the raid, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office announced its own investigation into xAI, examining how personal data is processed by AI chatbots and their potential to produce harmful content.
French prosecutors are investigating specific criminal activities, including potential involvement in child sexual abuse material, AI-generated sexual deepfakes, denial of historical events, and unauthorized data extraction from automated systems.
The prosecutor’s office commented, “We need to have voluntary interviews with management to clarify their stance on the matter and discuss any upcoming compliance efforts.”
It’s reported that Grok was a catalyst for the allegations regarding Holocaust denial. French laws explicitly criminalize such denial and related antisemitic sentiments, with the 1990 Gayso Act prohibiting the questioning of crimes against humanity defined during the Nuremberg trials, including the Holocaust.
Grok allegedly produced a post in French suggesting that the gas chambers at Auschwitz were solely for “disinfecting with Zyklon B against typhus.” French prosecutors view this as a clear example of Holocaust denial, undermining the fact of systematic extermination during that period. Though Grok later retracted, acknowledging the Holocaust’s historical truth, the laws in France enforce strict penalties for initial dissemination of such views.
Last year, X had to remove content after users reported Grok for positive remarks about Adolf Hitler.
“The issues surrounding Grok spark serious concerns about how personal data has been misused to create intimate and sexualized images without individuals’ awareness or consent,” remarked William Malcolm, an executive at the Office of the Commissioner.
The ongoing investigations in both France and the UK add to the mounting legal troubles X faces in Europe.
Recently, the European Commission initiated its own inquiry into Grok for generating non-consensual deepfakes and distributing them across various platforms. Additionally, X was recently fined €120 million (around $130 million) by Brussels for misleading design practices surrounding its blue checkmark system, which was seen as deceptive and potentially enabling fraud.
