The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children has filed a lawsuit against his artificial intelligence company, claiming its Grok chatbot was used to create sexually explicit fake images of her, causing humiliation and emotional trauma.
Ashley St. Clair, 27, a writer and political strategist, filed the case on Thursday in New York City against xAI. In the lawsuit, she alleged that Grok allowed users to generate manipulated images portraying her in sexualized ways. These reportedly include a photo of her at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, as well as other images depicting her as an adult in explicit poses and wearing a bikini with swastikas. St. Clair is Jewish. Grok operates on Musk’s social media platform X.
Lawyers for xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. When asked about the lawsuit, the company replied to The Associated Press with a brief statement saying, “Legacy Media Lies.”
St. Clair said she reported the fake images to X after they began circulating last year and asked for their removal. She claimed the platform initially said the images did not violate its policies. Later, X assured her that her images would not be used or altered without consent, she said.
However, St. Clair alleged that the platform later retaliated by canceling her premium subscription and verification badge, blocking her ability to earn income from her account, which has about one million followers, and continuing to allow the altered images to circulate.
In court documents, St. Clair said she has suffered severe mental distress and humiliation because of xAI’s role in creating and spreading the images. She also said she fears the people who view the fake content.
St. Clair, who lives in New York City, is the mother of Musk’s 16-month-old son, Romulus. She is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages, along with court orders to stop xAI from allowing further fake images of her.
Later on Thursday, xAI moved the case to federal court in Manhattan and also filed a countersuit in a Texas federal court, claiming St. Clair violated user agreement terms that require lawsuits to be filed in Texas. The company is seeking an unspecified monetary judgment.
X is based in Texas, where Musk owns a home and where Tesla is headquartered in Austin.
St. Clair’s lawyer, Carrie Goldberg, described the countersuit as highly unusual and said her client would strongly contest the move, arguing that xAI’s technology enables harmful and unsafe content.
Grok AI banned from editing real people in revealing photos
Earlier this week, X announced new safeguards for Grok, including limits on image editing and stricter rules against sexual exploitation and nonconsensual content.