No Word On Whether Elon Musk Will Attend X Cybercrime Hearing In Paris
was summoned for a hearing in Paris on Monday as part of a probe into X and alleged irregularities around its algorithms as well as its AI tool Grok’s role in the dissemination of Holocaust denial content and sexually explicit deepfakes.
There was no word on whether the tech tycoon would attend or skip the voluntary interview, which will be followed by hearings across the week with other employees of X’s operations in France. French media suggested Musk was expected to be a no show but his absence has not been confirmed as yet.
The Paris Prosecutor publicly announced in early February that it had summoned the X owner and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who stepped down in July 2025, for a voluntary interview on April 20 as part of the cybercrime probe.
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February’s summons followed a raid the same day on X’s French HQ in Paris by a police cybercrime unit, in partnership with European crime agency Europol.
The raid and hearings are part of an investigation launched in the wake of a January 2025 report by French politician Éric Bothorel raising concerns over X’s algorithms and suggesting they influenced automated data processing systems.
The investigation was expanded in February to include the creation and dissemination by X’s Grok chatbot of Holocaust denial material as well as millions of sexualized images.
The latter type of content exploded on X from late December 2025 to early January 2026, with the introduction of a new editing function. Following a backlash over the material, X introduced restrictions so that Grok would no longer be able to edit images of real people to show them undressed or in revealing clothes.
X responded to news of the summons in February with a post saying the investigation was politically motivated.
Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Justice Department had declined to assist French law enforcement in its investigation into X, suggesting the probe was an attempt to rein in free speech.
“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” read the letter, quoted by WSJ.
Musk has also garnered support from Pavel Durov, founder of the ultra-private messaging App Telegram, who is also in the crosshairs of the French authorities.
“Macron’s France is losing legitimacy as it weaponizes criminal investigations to suppress free speech and privacy,” Durov wrote on a post on X, noting the U.S. Department of Justice’s refusal to get involved.
Durov was detained in France in August 2024 and charged in relation to Telegram’s lack of content moderation around criminal activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking on the App.
He was allowed to leave the country in March 2025, returning to Dubai where he has been based since 2014, after falling foul of Russia for refusing to handover data for protesters in demonstrations against pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
“I’m under a similar investigation in France: over a dozen charges, each carrying up to 10 years in prison. Proud to stand alongside Elon Musk and others targeted by Macron’s campaign against digital rights. In Macron’s France, being investigated is the new Légion d’honneur,” wrote Durov in Monday’s post.
French politician Bothorel, whose study sparked France’s initial investigation into X, dismissed Durov’s post.
“Lesson No. 1 in any serious democracy — including the so-called “Pays des lumières”: free speech is not absolute. And thankfully so. Otherwise, it would just be a shield for insults, threats, and disinformation,” he wrote.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement at the time of the summons announcement that the spirit of the voluntary interviews was to allow Musk and Yaccarino “to explain their position on the facts and, where applicable, the compliance measures they are considering.”
The statement said that probe was being conducted “in a constructive manner” the ultimate goal of being for X to comply with French law.
The prosecutor’s office told French media over the weekend that Elon and Yaccarino’s absences would not impede the investigation.
