Tech billionaire Elon Musk has failed to attend a voluntary interview requested by French prosecutors, as authorities continue their investigation into his social media platform X.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, individuals summoned for questioning on 20 April did not appear. While officials did not name Musk directly, the investigation is widely understood to involve him and other senior figures linked to the platform.
“The presence or absence of those summoned is not an obstacle to continuing the investigation,” prosecutors said in a statement, signaling that the case will proceed regardless.
The probe began in 2025 and has since expanded to include concerns about the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, which authorities say may have been used to generate non-consensual sexual deepfake images.
Earlier in February, investigators from Paris’s cyber-crime unit raided X’s offices over suspected criminal offences related to content moderation and platform activity.
Musk has previously dismissed the investigation as politically motivated. In a February post on X, he described the probe as a “political attack.” Responding to recent reports, he added: “Indeed, this needs to stop.”
The controversy has also taken on an international dimension. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the US Justice Department has declined to assist French authorities in the investigation, accusing them of misusing the American legal system.
This is not the first time Musk has ignored a legal summons. In September 2024, he failed to appear at a court-ordered hearing in Los Angeles linked to an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over his takeover of Twitter.
French authorities initially launched the inquiry following complaints about X’s recommendation algorithms, including allegations of interference in domestic politics. The scope later widened to include issues related to harmful AI-generated content, including Holocaust denial and manipulated images.
Prosecutors are investigating a range of potential offences, including the distribution of child sexual abuse material, violations of image rights through deepfakes, and suspected fraudulent data extraction by organized groups.
X has strongly denied all allegations. In a previous statement, the company described the case as “baseless” and accused French authorities of distorting the law and undermining free speech.
Former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino, who was also summoned for questioning, has echoed Musk’s stance. She previously accused French prosecutors of pursuing “a political vendetta against Americans.”
The investigation adds to growing global scrutiny of X and its parent company xAI, as regulators across Europe and beyond step up oversight of social media platforms and artificial intelligence technologies.