A search warrant has been executed at the French offices of X, a company owned by Elon Musk, as part of a probe into alleged unlawful activities, including the unauthorized extraction of data and involvement in the possession of child sexual abuse material.

According to the prosecutor's office, both Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino are scheduled to appear at hearings in April as part of the investigation.

In a related development, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office has launched an investigation into Grok, an AI tool developed by Musk, due to concerns that it may generate harmful or sexualized content.

Elon Musk has responded to the raid on X's offices, characterizing it as a "political attack" in a post on the platform.

X has released a statement expressing disappointment but not surprise at the raid, and has accused the Paris Public Prosecutor's office of taking "abusive action".

The company has denied any wrongdoing and claims that the raid poses a threat to freedom of expression.

The investigation into X began in January 2025, initially focusing on content recommendations made by the platform's algorithm, and was later expanded in July to include Musk's AI chatbot, Grok.

Linda Yaccarino has also spoken out on X, alleging that French prosecutors are pursuing a "political vendetta" against Americans.

Yaccarino, who left X last year, has categorically denied the allegations, stating that the prosecutors are "lying".

Following the recent raid, French prosecutors have announced that they will be investigating X for potential violations of the law in multiple areas.

The potential offenses under investigation include complicity in the possession or distribution of child sexual abuse material, infringement of image rights through the use of sexual deepfakes, and fraudulent data extraction by organized groups.

UK authorities have provided an update on their investigation into the creation and sharing of sexual deepfakes on X using Grok.

The controversy surrounding these images, which are often created using real images of women without their consent, led to widespread criticism in January from victims, online safety advocates, and politicians.

X eventually took action to prevent the practice after regulatory bodies such as Ofcom launched investigations.

In a recent update, Ofcom stated that it is continuing to investigate X and is treating the matter as a priority.

However, Ofcom has noted that it currently lacks the necessary powers to investigate the creation of illegal images by chatbots like Grok.

The Information Commissioner's Office has since announced that it will be launching its own investigation, in conjunction with Ofcom, into the processing of personal data related to Grok.

According to William Malcolm, the ICO's executive director for regulatory risk and innovation, the reports about Grok raise serious concerns about the use of personal data to generate intimate or sexualized images without consent.

In late January, the European Commission launched an investigation into xAI, the parent company of X, over concerns about the images generated by Grok.

A Commission spokesperson has confirmed that it is in contact with French authorities regarding the search of X's offices in Paris.

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has criticized the French authorities, accusing them of being the only country to "criminally persecute" social networks that provide users with some degree of freedom.

Durov has also stated that France is "not a free country" in a post on X.

Durov was arrested and detained in France in August 2024 over alleged failures to moderate criminal activity on his platform.

He was allowed to leave the country in March after making changes to Telegram's operations, including sharing user data with authorities in response to legal requests.

These changes were made following Durov's arrest and detention in France.