French police raided X’s Paris offices Tuesday as part of a widening criminal probe into allegations that the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, was used to generate and distribute child sexual abuse material. What happened - France’s specialized cybercrime unit, working with Europol, executed the search. Prosecutors say X owner Elon Musk has been summoned for questioning, along with several current and former executives — including former CEO Linda Yaccarino. - Authorities say the investigation covers a range of suspected offences tied to the platform’s operation and use, including dissemination of illegal content and other online crimes. Europol said it will continue to support the French probe. The allegations - The investigation, opened last month, centers on claims that Grok was used to generate more than 23,000 sexualized images of children and to circulate other illegal content. - Last August, xAI introduced a so-called “Spicy Mode” that allowed the chatbot to produce NSFW content. That feature was already linked to high-profile deepfake incidents, including images of Taylor Swift. Company response - X’s Global Government Affairs team denied wrongdoing, calling the raid a “politicized criminal investigation” and accusing French authorities of distorting the law and threatening free speech. The team said X will defend its and its users’ rights and rejected the raid as intimidation. Regulatory and advocacy reaction - Consumer advocates argue that regulators investigating AI platforms should assess whether design choices made illegal misuse foreseeable and whether safeguards were adequately tested before launch. J.B. Branch of Public Citizen told Decrypt that existing law against non‑consensual imagery and child sexual abuse material is essential but not built for AI that can “mass‑produce harm at scalable speed.” He urged clearer, proactive obligations for companies and independent stress‑testing of AI before release. - The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced an investigation the same day, following reports Grok was used to generate non-consensual sexual images — including of children. ICO Executive Director William Malcolm said the probe will examine whether personal data was processed lawfully and whether appropriate safeguards were designed into Grok to prevent generation of harmful manipulated images. - The UK media regulator Ofcom is also investigating whether X breached obligations under the Online Safety Act. Global scope and product changes - Probes into Grok span multiple jurisdictions — the UK, EU, India, Australia, and the U.S. - In January, xAI said it had limited Grok’s image‑editing capabilities and blocked certain prompts related to generating images of people. - The Paris raid came a day after Elon Musk announced SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, bringing X and its AI systems under SpaceX’s corporate umbrella as regulatory scrutiny intensifies. European officials’ stance - EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the reported output was “not spicy” but illegal and “has no place in Europe,” describing the content as appalling and disgusting. What this means for crypto - X remains a central communication and market venue for many crypto traders, builders, and projects. Heightened regulatory action and legal uncertainty around X and its AI tools could affect platform reliability, moderation policy, and the way crypto communities engage with social media-based tools — particularly as regulators push for stronger pre-market safeguards on generative AI. Next steps - French prosecutors continue the criminal inquiry; SpaceX and xAI had not responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting. Investigations by the ICO and other regulators are ongoing, and legal scrutiny across jurisdictions is likely to shape how platforms deploy generative AI features going forward. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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