The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children has filed a lawsuit against his artificial intelligence (AI) company over the release of sexually exploitative deepfake images depicting her. Ashley St. Clair, aged 27, alleges that the company’s Grok chatbot enabled users to create these images, causing her distress and humiliation.
St. Clair, a writer and political strategist, filed the lawsuit in New York City against xAI. The legal documents claim that the deepfake images included manipulated photos of her at a young age and as an adult in sexualized poses, including ones with offensive symbols, which are particularly hurtful to her as a Jewish individual.
Grok is a feature on Musk’s social media platform X. When contacted for comments, xAI’s lawyers did not respond immediately. Following widespread criticism over sexualized content, X announced that Grok would no longer be able to edit photos of real people in revealing attire where it is illegal.
St. Clair reported the deepfakes to X, requesting their removal, but initially received responses stating that the images did not violate policies. Subsequently, the platform assured her that her images would not be used or altered without her consent. However, St. Clair claims that X retaliated by downgrading her account privileges and allowing continued circulation of degrading fake images of her.
Expressing her distress in the lawsuit, St. Clair mentioned the ongoing mental anguish caused by xAI’s creation and dissemination of these altered images. She also expressed fear over individuals viewing the deepfakes of her. Seeking damages for emotional distress and seeking court orders to prevent further deepfakes, St. Clair is pursuing legal action in New York Supreme Court.
In response, xAI transferred the lawsuit to federal court in Manhattan and counter-sued St. Clair in the Northern District of Texas, alleging violations of their user agreement. X, headquartered in Texas, is owned by Musk, who also resides in the state.
Carrie Goldberg, St. Clair’s lawyer, criticized the countersuit as an unusual tactic. She emphasized St. Clair’s defense in New York and highlighted the severity of the claims against xAI. X announced additional measures to safeguard Grok, including restricting image creation and editing to paid accounts to enhance accountability and combat illicit content.
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