Elon Musk, CEO of electric car maker Tesla (TSLA), is under growing legal pressure. He is now facing possible criminal charges over how his social media platform X handles illegal content. At the same time, Musk is battling a high-stakes federal court fight in California with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup behind ChatGPT.
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French prosecutors have called Musk to Paris to respond to preliminary criminal charges in a probe into his X social media platform. The summons came after Musk failed to attend a voluntary meeting with French officials weeks earlier.
Prosecutors verified Thursday that the case has been elevated to a formal criminal probe. Alongside Musk, former X CEO Linda Yaccarino has also been invited to respond to the early charges. If either skips the summons, prosecutors said they can file the charges without them present.
The investigation began in 2025 over claims of a biased algorithm on X. Since then, it has grown to include alleged breaches of message privacy, sharing child sexual content, and creating explicit deepfake images by X’s AI chatbot, Grok.
Musk Takes on France and OpenAI at the Same Time
French prosecutors have made it clear that their goal is to push platforms like X to comply with local laws when operating in the country. So far, authorities have not moved to arrest Musk or any other X executive.
However, the U.S. Justice Department last month refused to cooperate with the probe, calling it a “politically charged criminal proceeding.” The decision came after French police raided X’s Paris office in February, a move the social platform later called an “abusive act of law enforcement theater.”
Meanwhile, Musk’s trial against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, has entered its second week.
At the center of the case is his claim that OpenAI betrayed its founding promise to operate as a nonprofit. As a result, Musk is seeking up to $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and its top investor, Microsoft (MSFT). OpenAI filed a countersuit in April, accusing Musk of a harassment campaign and saying his legal actions are meant to damage the firm and support his own AI startup, xAI.
What Is the Next Big IPO in 2026?
OpenAI is said to be aiming for an initial public offering (IPO) in Q4 2026 at a potential $1 trillion valuation. Similarly, Musk’s SpaceX rocket firm is preparing for a public debut around June this year, with a valuation target of about $2 trillion.
Unlike OpenAI, SpaceX has taken more concrete steps toward a listing, including filing confidential paperwork with the U.S. SEC on April 1. Other firms being watched for possible listings include AI startup Anthropic, fintech giant Stripe, and data analytics firm Databricks. For more information on these companies, investors can track them on the TipRanks Private Company Center.
