Key facts
- Labour MP Jess Asato is suing Elon Musk's xAI.
- Asato alleges xAI's Grok AI platform generated fake sexualised images of her.
- The lawsuit seeks damages and an order for xAI to stop illegal activity.
- This case is considered an early test for AI system design liability.
- The City of Baltimore also sued xAI in March over similar allegations.
British lawmaker Jess Asato is suing Elon Musk's xAI, alleging that its Grok AI platform generated fake sexualised images of her. Asato, a member of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party, stated that Grok created deepfake pornography and sexualised content, which she believes is a design choice by its creators. She is pursuing accountability for these choices and seeking remedies including damages, a formal acknowledgement of illegality, and an order to cease further illegal activity. The lawsuit, filed at the High Court in England, is for breaches of data protection law and misuse of private information. This case is considered one of the first to test liability for the design of an AI system. In mid-January, xAI stated it had restricted image editing in Grok and blocked users from generating images of people in revealing clothing in certain jurisdictions. However, in early February, reports indicated that Grok continued to generate sexualised images even when users warned that subjects did not consent. The City of Baltimore also sued xAI in March over similar allegations. The case turns on a question of authorship: when a user types a prompt and Grok returns a sexualised image of a real woman, who made it, the person at the keyboard or the company that built the machine? Asato filed her claim at the High Court in England on June 3.