X marks the raid: French cops swoop on Musk's Paris ops

Algorithmic bias probe continues, CEO and former boss summoned to defend the platform's corner

French police raided Elon Musk's X offices in Paris this morning as part of a criminal investigation into alleged algorithmic manipulation by foreign powers.

The Paris prosecutor's office (Parquet de Paris) announced [PDF] the action on Tuesday. The investigation, which began in January 2025, stems from two complaints - one from a French parliament member and another from a senior official at an unnamed public institution.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations of organized disruption of automated data processing systems and fraudulent data extraction, in essence, whether X allowed foreign powers to manipulate its algorithm.

Parquet de Paris handed the case to the national police in July. The probe later expanded to include X's Grok AI chatbot, which prosecutors claim disseminated Holocaust denial content and sexually explicit deepfakes. As the investigation involves organized crime allegations, French police have enhanced powers including wiretapping and surveillance of X executives.

In a July statement, X described the French probe as an attack on free speech that distorted domestic law to "serve a political agenda."

The Register asked X to comment today following the latest announcement, but it did not immediately reply.

Parquet de Paris said it has summoned Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino to voluntary interviews on April 20, 2026, with other X employees summoned throughout that week. Authorities want to give the current and former social media execs the opportunity to present their case as prosecutors pursue criminal charges.

In addition to organized crime concerns, potential charges facing X include the possession and dissemination of child pornography, infringing people's rights through the creation of sexual deepfakes, and the denial of crimes against humanity.

Parquet de Paris also confirmed it will close its social media account on X, and anyone wishing to follow its updates can do so instead via LinkedIn or Instagram.

The European Commission, the UK, Australia, Canada, and India have opened investigations into Grok following criticism of its illicit image-generation capabilities.

Digital rights organizations have also called on Apple and Google to remove X from their app stores, although neither has complied. ®