The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is taking legal action against his AI company, alleging that its Grok chatbot enabled the creation of sexually exploitative deepfake images of her, causing significant emotional distress and humiliation.
Ashley St. Clair, 27, identifies as a writer and political strategist. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York City against xAI, she claims the altered images include a photo of her, taken when she was 14, that was manipulated to portray her in a bikini, as well as other images depicting her in sexualized positions adorned with swastikas, an alarming detail since St. Clair is Jewish. Grok is associated with Musk’s social media platform, X.
As of Friday, xAI’s legal representatives had not responded to requests for comments. This comes on the heels of a backlash over similar exploitative images, leading X to announce that Grok would no longer be permitted to modify photos of real people in provocative clothing in jurisdictions where it is deemed illegal.
When approached about the lawsuit, xAI’s response was simply “Legacy Media Lies,” according to an email sent to The Associated Press.
St. Clair recounted that she had reported these deepfakes to X after they surfaced last year, requesting their removal. Initially, the company stated the images did not breach its policies. Subsequently, they assured her that her images would not be altered or utilized without her consent.
However, according to St. Clair, the platform retaliated by revoking her premium subscription and verification checkmark, hindering her ability to monetize her account, which boasts 1 million followers, while continuing to allow the dissemination of degrading images.
“I have suffered and continue to suffer serious pain and mental distress due to xAI’s involvement in creating and sharing these altered images of me,” she expressed in a document linked to her lawsuit. “I am humiliated and feel trapped in this nightmare as long as Grok keeps generating these images.”
She further mentioned that she constantly fears the reactions of those who might view these deepfakes.
St. Clair, who is the mother of Musk’s 16-month-old son, Romulus, filed her lawsuit in state Supreme Court in New York. She is seeking damages for emotional distress along with a court order to prevent xAI from creating further deepfakes of her.
Later that day, xAI moved the lawsuit to federal court in Manhattan, requesting it be adjudicated there. Additionally, they countersued St. Clair in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, claiming she violated her xAI user agreement which mandates that lawsuits must be filed in Texas. They’re seeking an unspecified monetary judgment against her.
Texas is also where X is based, and Musk owns property, while his electric vehicle company Tesla is headquartered in Austin.
Carrie Goldberg, St. Clair’s attorney, remarked that the countersuit was an unusual and startling tactic. “Ms. St. Clair will be vigorously defending her choice of forum in New York,” she stated. “Ultimately, any jurisdiction will recognize the seriousness of Ms. St. Clair’s claims — that by producing nonconsensual sexually explicit images of girls and women, xAI constitutes a public nuisance and is not a safe product.”
Following the recent backlash, X announced that it would introduce additional limitations on Grok, including restricting image generation and editing to paid accounts, a change they believe would enhance accountability. They highlighted their zero tolerance policy for child sexual exploitation and nonconsensual nudity, pledging to promptly remove inappropriate content and report related accounts to law enforcement.
