French authorities have summoned billionaire Elon Musk for a voluntary interview in Paris on Monday as part of an investigation into allegations that his social media platform X’s algorithm was used to interfere in French politics.
The summons was issued in February, according to French officials, as part of an investigation launched in January 2025. The probe was later expanded to include an examination of X’s AI chatbot Grok’s dissemination of Holocaust denial content and sexual deepfakes.
In early February, French prosecutors searched X’s Paris offices, which the social media platform slammed as “politicised” raids and an “abusive judicial act.” At the time, prosecutors also summoned Musk and then-CEO Linda Yaccarino for voluntary interviews as the “de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events.” Musk called the move a “political attack.”
Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X in July last year after two years at the helm.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said X employees had also been summoned to appear between April 20 and 24 “to be heard as witnesses.” However, whether those invited for voluntary questioning appear would not be “an obstacle to the continuation of the investigation,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.
Officials have not offered details on the location or time of Musk’s scheduled interview.
The French investigation focuses on several suspected criminal offences, including complicity in possessing child sexual abuse material and denial of crimes against humanity. X has denied any wrongdoing and called the probe “politically motivated.”
The French investigation comes amid broader international backlash against Grok. The Center for Countering Digital Hate reported that users generated an estimated three million sexualised images in 11 days, including about 23,000 that appeared to depict children. Britain’s data regulator and the European Union have also launched investigations into X and Grok over similar concerns.
