French Police Raid X’s Paris Office in Probe of Grok AI and Illegal Content

In brief

• French investigators searched X’s Paris offices as part of a probe into illegal content and algorithm practices.
• The case expanded after complaints that Grok was used to generate non-consensual sexual images, including of children.
• UK regulators have opened parallel investigations under data protection and online safety laws.

French authorities raided the Paris offices of social media platform X on Tuesday as part of a widening criminal investigation into alleged child pornography linked to the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok. According to a report by Sky News, the search was carried out by France’s specialized cybercrime unit in coordination with Europol. Prosecutors said X owner Elon Musk has been summoned for questioning, along with several current and former executives, including former chief executive Linda Yaccarino. “The investigation concerns a range of suspected criminal offences linked to the functioning and use of the platform, including the dissemination of illegal content and other forms of online criminal activity,” Europol said in a statement. “Europol stands ready to continue supporting the French authorities as the investigation progresses.”

 The probe in Grok, launched last month, centers on allegations that X was complicit in the distribution of child sexual abuse material and other illegal content, with authorities alleging that Grok was used to generate more than 23,000 sexualized images of children. Last August, xAI launched “Spicy Mode” specifically to generate NSFW content, including a high-profile case involving deepfakes of Taylor Swift. In a post on X, the Global Government Affairs department of the social media giant denied any wrongdoing, calling the raid a “politicized criminal investigation into alleged manipulation of algorithms and purported fraudulent data extraction.”

“Today’s staged raid reinforces our conviction that this investigation distorts French law, circumvents due process, and endangers free speech,” they wrote. “X is committed to defending its fundamental rights and the rights of its users. We will not be intimidated by the actions of French judicial authorities today.” Consumer advocacy groups argue that when regulators investigate AI developers whose tools are used to create illegal content, they should examine whether the company could have reasonably anticipated how those tools would be misused. “Regulators should examine whether the company’s design choices made illegal misuse foreseeable, whether risk assessments were adequate, and whether safeguards were meaningfully tested before launch,” Big Tech Accountability Advocate at Public Citizen, J.B. Branch, told Decrypt. “Platforms that profit from rapid deployment must bear responsibility for the harms that deployment creates. That is exactly what happens in other industries.” While current laws against non-consensual sexual imagery and child sexual abuse material remain essential, Branch said they were not built for AI that can “mass-produce harm at scalable speed.” “We need clearer, proactive obligations that require companies to prevent AI-enabled abuse before it happens, including independent regulator testing that can stress test problems before AI products go to market,” he said. “When something this serious happens, the tool should be immediately removed.” Probes abound Investigations into the chatbot have now expanded across multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, the EU, India, Australia, and the U.S. The same day that French officials raided X’s Paris office, the UK–based Information Commissioner’s Office announced it had also opened an investigation into Grok. “We have taken this step following reports that Grok has been used to generate non‑consensual sexual imagery of individuals, including children,” ICO Executive Director Regulatory Risk & Innovation, William Malcolm, said in a statement. “The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public.”

According to Malcolm, these concerns relate to whether personal data has been processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently, and whether appropriate safeguards were built into Grok’s design and deployment to prevent the generation of harmful manipulated images using personal data. “Where those safeguards fail, individuals lose control of their personal data in ways that expose them to serious harm,” he wrote. “Examining these risks is central to the ICO’s role in protecting people’s rights and holding organisations to account as they design and deploy AI technology.” The actions in Europe are the latest targeting X and Grok, last month the UK-based media regulator Ofcom opened an investigation into whether X violated its obligations under the Online Safety Act. In January, following the international backlash against Grok, xAI said it restricted the chatbot’s image editing capabilities and blocked certain prompts related to generating images of people. The Paris raid comes a day after Musk announced SpaceX acquired xAI, the artificial intelligence startup that had previously absorbed X, placing the social media platform and its AI systems under SpaceX’s corporate umbrella as regulatory scrutiny intensifies. “We are aware of the fact that X or Grok is now offering a ‘Spicy Mode’ showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images,” EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said during a recent press conference in Brussels. “This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting. This has no place in Europe.” SpaceX and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Decrypt.