Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced Thursday that her office has opened a criminal investigation into Elon Musk, X Corp., xAI, and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, three months after a raid on X’s Paris office and a voluntary summons both went ignored.
The investigation covers three separate allegations: child sexual abuse material on X, Grok’s dissemination of Holocaust-denial claims, and sexually explicit deepfakes. French authorities raided X’s Paris office and requested voluntary interviews with Musk and Yaccarino in April. Neither appeared.
Beccuau’s office has asked investigating judges to charge all four parties by summoning them to gather their comments or, if they refuse to comply, by issuing a warrant equivalent to a criminal indictment. X had already refused to comply with a separate court order to hand over its algorithm.
For Musk, the stakes are direct: preliminary criminal charges can be issued in his absence if he doesn’t appear. Yaccarino, who served as X’s CEO, faces the same exposure. The two had been invited to respond voluntarily before the probe became official.
The prosecutor’s office said the probe “aims to uphold the law and to protect individuals who have been victims of criminal offenses, both online and in real life.” France isn’t asking anymore.
The next deadline: Musk and Yaccarino must respond to the investigating judges or face indictment-equivalent warrants.
— James Okafor