\n
<\/p>\n
Several senior figures of the administration, including US Vice President JD Vance, have criticized the EU\u2019s fining X. Musk is one of the largest donors to President Trump and his favored Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
In its statement, the DOJ said the DSA had improperly \u201cextended legal scrutiny to Mr. Musk himself as a private individual and implicated entirely separate and unrelated American corporate entities under his ownership<\/p>\n
The DOJ also asserted that the Commission inappropriately calculated the fine based on the combined global annual revenue of other companies that Musk controlled, rather than what X earned within its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
In March 2025, X was first merged with Musk\u2019s artificial intelligence company xAI, which was subsequently acquired by his rocket maker SpaceX ahead of its public listing in June this year.<\/p>\n
SpaceX declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Separately, the EU is investigating X for other potential breaches under the DSA, including whether the company has assessed and mitigated risks associated with the integration of its AI chatbot Grok into X for EU users.<\/p>\n
Apple is also appealing a \u20ac500 million fine imposed under the EU\u2019s related Digital Markets Act for anti-competitive behavior in its app store.<\/p>\n
Trump has railed against the penalties, calling them \u201coverseas extortion\u201d and called them a \u201cform of taxation.\u201d During his first administration, the president unsuccessfully tried to influence Apple\u2019s challenge against a \u20ac13 billion Irish tax bill.<\/p>\n