French police have carried out searches at the offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X, while prosecutors have ordered the tech billionaire to appear for questioning in April as part of an expanding investigation into the company, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, reports RTE.
The search forms part of a year-long inquiry into suspected manipulation of algorithms and the alleged fraudulent extraction of data by X or senior figures within the company, reports RTE.
In a statement, however, the Paris Prosecutor’s office said the scope of the investigation has been broadened following complaints concerning the operation of X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
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The investigation will now also examine alleged involvement in the spread of Holocaust denial content and sexually explicit deepfake material, reports RTE.
Mr Musk, along with former chief executive Linda Yaccarino, has been summoned to attend a hearing on 20 April, while other X employees have also been called as witnesses.
In July, Mr Musk rejected the original allegations and claimed French prosecutors were pursuing a “politically-motivated criminal investigation”, reports RTE.
“At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French laws, insofar as it operates on national territory,” the prosecutor’s office said, reports RTE.
The inquiry is being led by the prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, working in conjunction with the French police’s own cybercrime division and Europol.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the investigation was launched after it was contacted by a French member of parliament who alleged that biased algorithms on X may have interfered with the functioning of an automated data processing system, reports RTE.
The prosecutor’s office also said it would no longer use the X social media platform and will instead communicate via LinkedIn and Instagram going forward.
LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and Instagram by Meta, reports RTE.
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