Hajra Naz
Elon Musk’s xAI has been hit with lawsuits in three different states in the US.
The Grok chatbot created explicit images based on childhood photos. A nationwide class-action lawsuit has been filed by a sexual abuse survivor, according to Bloomberg.
| State | Plaintiff Details | Core Allegation |
| Wisconsin | Adult woman | Grok generated explicit images from her 8th-grade graduation photo at age 14. |
| Tennessee | Group of plaintiffs | Grok created naked images using their childhood school photos. |
| California | Sexual abuse survivor | National class action claiming xAI trained Grok on preschool assault images. |
Specific Allegations Across Three States
The allegations are grim. According to one lawsuit in Wisconsin a 14-year-old girl says that Grok used her middle school graduation photo to generate explicit images.
Another group in Tennessee is suing xAI for using school photographs to create nude images with their chatbot.
In California, a sexual abuse survivor has filed a national class action lawsuit, claiming that they trained Grok using images of her being sexually assaulted while she was in preschool.
All three lawsuits are asking a key question; who can be held responsible if harmful content is generated by an artificial intelligence tool.
xAI’s Defense and Policy Reversals
In all cases xAI stated that they couldn’t be held legally liable as images were created by users.
However, in January Elon Musk made a similar statement to the public. At this time it was reported that Grok creates thousands of nudified images each day and Musk said:
‘We will hold users accountable for creating illegal content.’
Soon after xAI updated its policies relating to its platform. The app stores had previously threatened to delist the X app.
xAI have now prevented large scale creation of nudified pictures with Grok, proving they had the capability to prevent this content. However they initially stated they wouldn’t do so due to freedom of speech.
Read More: The Pentagon Now Has Its Own AI Chatbots Like ChatGPT and Grok
Legal Challenges and Product Design
xAI has also challenged laws being put in place by states to prevent non-consensual AI imagery. Last month they blocked a potential ban on AI generated nude imagery in Minnesota.
They stated that the laws were unconstitutional. xAI were the only AI company to challenge the laws.
However, xAI have boasted about their ability to create offensive content using Grok. They promote a ‘go crazy mode.’
They even created ‘buddy bots’ that can have NSFW conversations. The lawsuits are claiming that it is an obvious outcome of these decisions to have nudifying capabilities.
This will set new examples for the industry around harms caused by AI.
