Khaberni - The Office of the Public Prosecutor in Paris stated on Tuesday that the French police raided the offices of the "X" platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who was summoned by prosecutors for questioning in April as part of a broader investigation related to the platform.
The raid and Musk's summons are linked to an ongoing investigation for a year concerning the suspected misuse of algorithms and deceptive extraction of user data by the platform or its executive officials.
This may increase tensions between Europe and the United States concerning major technology companies and freedom of expression.
The Office of the Public Prosecutor stated in a statement that it is expanding the scope of the investigation following complaints about the operations of the platform's chatbot (Grook), which runs on artificial intelligence.
The investigation will also cover other potential crimes, including allegations of collusion in the "detention and publication" of pornographic images of children and the violation of rights in personal images by falsifying and converting them into explicit sexual images.
Musk and the former CEO of the platform, Linda Jakarino, were summoned to attend a session on April 20.
Two other employees of the platform were summoned as witnesses. The platform has not yet commented.
Musk denied the initial accusations in July, stating that the French prosecutors are launching a "politically motivated criminal investigation".
The prosecutors said, "This investigation at this stage is part of a constructive approach aimed at ensuring the X platform's compliance with French laws".
Such summonses are mandatory despite the difficulty of executing them on individuals living outside of France.
After the April session, the authorities can decide either to suspend the investigation or continue it, and the defendants might be detained on a precautionary basis.
