Deepfake affair

Musk in Paris prosecutor's office on 20 April, Grok also under investigation in the UK

Also summoned was the former general manager of X, Linda Yaccarino

3 February 2026

Elon Musk. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The Paris prosecutor's office has announced that it has summoned Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino for free hearings set for 20 April 2026 in the French capital as part of the investigation into the operation of platform X, after the Paris headquarters of the social network was searched today. This was reported by France Info. The summonses, the prosecutor's office specifies, were sent to Musk and Yaccarino in their respective capacities as 'de facto manager' and 'de jure manager' of the social network.

"The procedure was extended after further reports concerning the operation of Grok on X, which allegedly led to the dissemination of denialist content and deepfakes of a sexual nature," the same prosecutor's office specified.

As a consequence of the affair, the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office has also announced that it will abandon X as its official communication channel, referring to its profiles on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Grok also under investigation in the UK

The UK's data protection watchdog (Information Commissioner's Office), has announced the opening of an investigation against the social network X and its artificial intelligence company xAI, both owned by tycoon Elon Musk, for sexually oriented images generated by the chatbot Grok, which is at the centre of a worldwide wave of outrage. "The creation and dissemination of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of potential significant harm to the public," a note reads. Previously, the media regulator, Ofcom, had also launched an investigation into the matter, for alleged violations of the Online Safety Act.

The watchdog's decision came after a recent ultimatum issued by Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer to X with an obligation to comply 'immediately' with UK laws, starting with the Online Safety Act, which was introduced to protect minors on the internet from online abuse and child pornography. The investigation already launched by Ofcom aims to shed light on possible violations in this area. "We took this action after reports that Grok was used to generate non-consensual sexual images of people, including minors," the Information Commissioner's Office specified in its statement. In particular, the watchdog's investigation will assess whether there have been violations of UK data protection and privacy laws. 'Losing control of one's personal data in this way can cause immediate and significant harm. This is particularly true when minors are involved,' said William Malcolm of the Ico.

Grok continues to be able to generate sexually explicit images

The summons also stems from the fact that Grok, the chatbot of social X, can still generate sexually explicit images. Although xAi, Elon Musk's company that develops artificial intelligence and runs the former Twitter, claimed to have limited the generation of explicit images from real photos, a test by The Verge shows that the AI can still undress male subjects.

Journalist Robert Hart managed to strip some pictures of himself via the chatbot. "Grok promptly generated images of me in fetish clothes," he writes in The Verge, "and in a variety of provocative sexual positions in various states of nudity. As if that were not enough, he created a virtually naked companion with whom to interact in suggestive, if not entirely explicit, ways'. For the experiment, Hart used the free version of Grok both on social X and via the dedicated website (grok.com), without the need for an account.

According to an analysis by the British non-profit organisation Center for Countering Digital Hate, from 29 December 2025 to 9 January 2026, 3 million images depicting real people in non-consensual sexually explicit scenes were produced or edited on Grok. Of these, 23,000 have minors as subjects.

On 9 January, xAi restricted the possibility of stripping real people with Grok to X subscribers. Five days later, on 14 January, the limit was extended to everyone, following protests from governments and institutions worldwide. In late January, the European Union launched an investigation into the deepfakes generated by the chatbot. "Much of the public outrage has understandably focused on women and children," Hart concludes, "but it is still possible to get around many restrictions with different or creative wording."