French cybercrime authorities have raided social media platform X’s Paris office.
The platform is being investigated over allegations its algorithm is being manipulated “for the purpose of foreign interference,” and that Elon Musk’s AI system Grok has created offensive material.
The UK launched a separate investigation into Grok this week.
It follows reports users were asking Grok to generate sexual images of others without their consent, including of children.
Background
Grok is an AI tool developed by Musk’s company xAI for use on X.
Late last year, users discovered they could request Grok edit images of people with prompts like “put her in a bikini”.
Researchers at the U.S. Center for Countering Digital Hate estimate Grok created 3 million sexualised images between 29 December and 8 January.
Grok was also used to create child sexual abuse material during this period, with an average of one image every 41 seconds.
France
This week, French cybercrime officers searched X’s Paris office.
The search was part of aninvestigation launched in response to two reports lodged in January 2025,alleging “manipulation of X’s algorithm for the purpose of foreign interference.”
Éric Bothorel, an MP in President Emmanuel Macron’s party, filed one of the complaints. French newspaper Le Monde reported Bothorel believed Musk was making “personal interventions” in X’s algorithm to “reduce diversity of voices and opinions”.
The investigation also originally focused on the alleged“fraudulent extraction of data” from X’s systems.
Prosecutors said the investigation was expanded after reports on the use of Grok to create offensive material, including for the “dissemination of Holocaust denial context and sexually explicit deepfakes.”
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Musk, former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, and other X employees have been summoned for voluntary interviews in Paris in April.
A post shared to the X Global Government Affairs account called the raid “an abusive act of law enforcement theatre.”
“The allegations underlying today’s raid are baseless and X categorically denies any wrongdoing,” it said.
Musk appeared to respond to the raid by reposting comments from British far-right influencer Tommy Robinson about an alleged child sexual abuse case in France.
UK
This week, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced a formal investigation into Grok’s “potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content.“
ICO Executive Regulatory Risk Director William Malcolm said the reports from UK citizens raised “deeply troubling questions” around the use of personal data “to generate intimate or sexualised images without... consent”.
The UK Office of Communications (Ofcom)announced its own investigation into X last month.
Ofcom said it will look into whether X had “complied with its duties to protect people,” in response to reports about Grok.
Similarly, the European Commission (the leadership teamof the European Union) launched an investigation into the platform on 26 January.
A Commission representative said: “Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation.”
Response
On 15 January, the X Safety account announced changes to Grok.
It said the platform had “implemented technological measures” to stop Grok from editing people’s pictures to show them in “revealing clothing” on X.
The ability to create and edit images through Grok was also made available to paid subscribers only to add “an extra layer of protection” and hold “individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account... accountable.”
