The French investigation into alleged algorithm manipulation by X has expanded to examine the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes. The French investigation into alleged algorithm manipulation by X has expanded to examine the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes. French headquarters of Elon Musk's X raided by Paris cybercrime unit Tue 3 Feb 2026 09.25 ESTFirst published on Tue 3 Feb 2026 06.42 EST Prosecutors have raided the French headquarters of Elon Musk's social media platform X and summoned the tech billionaire and the company's former chief executive for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged cybercrime. "A search is under way by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office, the national police cyber unit and Europol," the Paris prosecutors' office said in a post on X on Tuesday, adding that it would no longer be publishing on the network. It said in a statement that Musk and Linda Yaccarino had been summoned for "voluntary questioning" in their capacity as "de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events".

The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, regarding the creation of sexually explicit fake images of women and minors. The commission announced on Monday that its investigation would examine whether the AI tool used on X has met its legal obligations under the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires social media companies to address illegal and harmful online content. In a statement to the AFP news agency, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe will not "tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as digital undressing of women and children". "It is simple - we will not hand over consent and child protection to tech companies to violate and monetise. The harm caused by illegal images is very real," she added.

The AI chatbot feature on X, Grok, was found by one study to have generated about 3m sexualised images in 11 days. The AI chatbot feature on X, Grok, was found by one study to have generated about 3m sexualised images in 11 days. Investigation comes after Elon Musk's firm sparked outrage by allowing users to'strip' photos of women and children The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X over the production of sexually explicit images and the spreading of possible child sexual abuse material by the platform's AI chatbot feature, Grok. The formal inquiry, launched on Monday, also extends an investigation into X's recommender systems, algorithms that help users discover new content. Grok has sparked international outrage by allowing users to digitally strip women and children and put them into provocative poses.

'What Elon [Musk] was ginning up was controversy, eyeballs, engagement and users,' CCDH's chief executive said. 'What Elon [Musk] was ginning up was controversy, eyeballs, engagement and users,' CCDH's chief executive said. Estimate made by Center for Countering Digital Hate after Elon Musk's AI image generation tool sparked outrage Grok AI generated about 3m sexualised images in less than two weeks, including 23,000 that appear to depict children, according to researchers who said it "became an industrial-scale machine for the production of sexual abuse material". The estimate has been made by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after Elon Musk's AI image generation tool sparked international outrage when it allowed users to upload photographs of strangers and celebrities, digitally strip them to their underwear or into bikinis, put them in provocative poses and post the images on X. The trend went viral over the new year, peaking on 2 January with 199,612 individual requests, according to analysis conducted by Peryton Intelligence, a digital intelligence company specialising in online hate.

Musk's Grok to bar users from generating sexual images of real people Elon Musk's X has said it will "geoblock" users of xAI Grok from creating images of people in "bikinis, underwear, and similar attire" amid a global backlash against the chatbot's sexualised images. "We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis," X's safety team said in a statement late on Wednesday. The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the geoblocking or other safeguards. X claimed to have "zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content". X's Grok faces investigations and bans from regulators and governments around the world following a deluge of sexualised AI images on the platform in recent weeks.

X CEO Elon Musk has said he was not aware of any "naked underage images" generated by xAI's Grok chatbot, as scrutiny of the AI tool intensifies worldwide. "I [am] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero," Musk said in an X post on Wednesday. Musk reiterated that Grok is programmed to refuse illegal requests and must comply with the laws of any given country or state. "Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests," Musk said.

United Kingdom media regulator Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X over the use of AI chatbot Grok to generate deepfake sexualised images. Ofcom labelled the reports as "deeply concerning", warning in a statement issued on Monday that the chatbot's creation of nude deepfakes could amount to "intimate image abuse or pornography", and that "sexualised images of children" could be considered "child sexual abuse material". Ofcom said its investigation will determine whether X "failed to comply with its legal obligations", and was launched after the company complied with an earlier request from the regulator to explain the steps it had taken to protect UK users. Asked for a comment, X referred the AFP news agency to a previous statement, which said it took action against illegal content on X "by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary". Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said it was vital that Ofcom complete its investigation swiftly, as the public, and most importantly the victims, would not accept any delay.

Ofcom has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X over concerns its AI tool Grok is being used to create sexualised images. In a statement, the UK watchdog said there had been deeply concerning reports of the chatbot being used to create and share undressed images of people, as well as sexualised images of children. If found to have broken the law, Ofcom can potentially issue X with a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater. The BBC has approached X for comment. Elon Musk previously said the UK government wanted any excuse for censorship in response to a post questioning why other AI platforms were not being looked at.

Elon Musk's firm X has blocked non-paying users from Grok's image-generation tool on Friday. Elon Musk's firm X has blocked non-paying users from Grok's image-generation tool on Friday. Monday briefing: How Elon Musk's Grok is being used as a tool for digital sexual abuse In today's newsletter: The chatbot is being used to digitally undress photos of women and children. What can politicians actually do to stop it, and what does it say about our control of the internet? Last week, the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said: "We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls."

By 8 January as many as 6,000 bikini demands were being made to the chatbot every hour, according to analysis conducted for the Guardian. By 8 January as many as 6,000 bikini demands were being made to the chatbot every hour, according to analysis conducted for the Guardian. 'Add blood, forced smile': how Grok's nudification tool went viral The'put her in a bikini' trend rapidly evolved into hundreds of thousands of requests to strip clothes from photos of women, horrifying those targeted Like thousands of women across the world, Evie, a 22-year-old photographer from Lincolnshire, woke up on New Year's Day, looked at her phone and was alarmed to see that fully clothed photographs of her had been digitally manipulated by Elon Musk's AI tool, Grok, to show her in just a bikini. The "put her in a bikini" trend began quietly at the end of last year before exploding at the start of 2026. Within days, hundreds of thousands of requests were being made to the Grok chatbot, asking it to strip the clothes from photographs of women.