Tech billionaire Elon Musk failed to appear Monday for a voluntary interview with Paris prosecutors investigating his social media platform X and its AI chatbot Grok.
Musk had been summoned as part of a probe launched in January 2025 into alleged abuses linked to X’s algorithm, including possible interference in French politics. The inquiry later expanded to cover the dissemination of Holocaust denial content and sexualised deepfake images generated by Grok.
French prosecutors confirmed that those summoned, including Musk, did not attend the session scheduled for April 20 but stressed that the absence would not impede progress.
“The presence or absence (of the people summoned) is not an obstacle to continuing the investigation,” prosecutors said.
The investigation gained momentum after French authorities searched X’s Paris offices in February, a move the company described at the time as “politicised” and an “abusive judicial act.” Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino were both summoned as key figures overseeing the platform during the period under scrutiny.
Several X employees are also expected to be questioned in the coming days as part of the ongoing probe, which falls under France’s cybercrime unit.
The case reflects broader European concerns over X’s handling of harmful content, including AI-generated material, amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of the platform across the continent.
Prosecutors have given no indication of immediate next steps following Musk’s non-appearance, but the inquiry is set to continue without delay.
