Baltimore sues Elon Musk's xAI over Grok deepfakes as legal pressure intensifies

Baltimore sues Elon Musk's xAI over Grok sexual 'deepfakes'

March 24 (Reuters) - The city of Baltimore sued Elon Musk's xAI on Tuesday, claiming its Grok chatbot illegally generates nonconsensual sexually explicit images, including of children. Baltimore, with a population of about 568,000, is the largest city to sue xAI over "deepfakes" attributed to Grok, its lawyers said. Musk launched Grok in 2023 and distributes it through his social media platform X, which like xAI is now part of his rocket and space exploration company SpaceX. Neither SpaceX nor xAI immediately responded to requests for comment. The Maryland city said in a complaint filed in Baltimore Circuit ⁠Court that xAI is violating its consumer protection statute by promoting Grok as a safe, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistant for everyday people. Baltimore said Grok has flooded X users with objectionable content, becoming one of the largest distributors of material depicting nonconsensual sexual activity and child sexual abuse despite promising it bans such content and permits only consensually produced adult nudity. The city also said X, formerly known as Twitter, generated an estimated 3 million, opens new tab realistic-looking sexualized images --including more than 23,000 of children -- over 11 days around the start of the year. "We're talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in ⁠a statement. "It's a threat to privacy, dignity and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable." REGULATORS IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES PROBING GROK Musk's xAI faces regulatory probes in several countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and in Australia over Grok. In mid-January, xAI said it restricted image editing in Grok, and blocked users from generating images of people in revealing ⁠clothing in "jurisdictions where it's illegal." Musk said at the time he was "not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero." The complaint includes a Grok-generated image that Musk shared on December 31, 2025, depicting the 54-year-old in a blue ⁠string bikini. Baltimore called it a "public endorsement" of Grok's ability to generate revealing edits of real people. The 3 million estimate came from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, based on a random sample of ⁠20,000 images that Grok generated. Baltimore is seeking an injunction requiring xAI to change Grok's "exploitative" design features, and pay unspecified fines. Last month's combination of SpaceX and xAI created the world's most valuable private company, worth about $1.25 trillion at the time. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Bill Berkrot Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Legal pressure on xAI intensifies as Baltimore becomes first U.S. city to sue over Grok deepfake porn

The logo of the artificial intelligence company xAI appears on the screen of a smartphone placed on a surface reflecting an abstract blue illustration. Lawsuits against Elon Musk's xAI are piling up, with Baltimore becoming the first major U.S. city to file a complaint against the company concerning issues with its Grok image generator. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in an emailed statement to CNBC that the deepfakes on Grok "have traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims." "We're talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children," Scott wrote. "Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it's a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable." Now part of SpaceX after a merger last month, xAI faces regulatory probes in several countries after Grok allowed the mass creation of so-called deepfake porn based on images of non-consenting women and children. Last week, attorneys representing three teenagers in Tennessee filed a proposed class action lawsuit against xAI after Grok generated content depicting them in sexualized and debasing scenarios. In the latest suit, filed in a circuit court on March 24, the mayor and city council of Baltimore accused xAI of violating the city's consumer protection laws and engaging in deceptive and unfair trade practices, namely by marketing Grok and X, formerly known as Twitter, as generally safe for users. The complaint refers to a "put her in a bikini" trend that encouraged Grok users to take photos of others and nudify them. Musk, who controls SpaceX and is also CEO of Tesla, participated in the trend, sharing an image created with Grok depicting him in a string bikini.

Baltimore sues xAI over Grok deepfakes

Grok has already taken extensive heat after the AI chatbot's image generation tool was used to create an estimated 3 million sexualized images over 11 days, including 23,000 of minors, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Regulators around the world have limited access or launched investigations into the platform's potentially illegal and nonconsensual image generation. The US government hasn't made any moves against xAI or its platform at the federal level, but today, the city of Baltimore began a municipal lawsuit against the company. The lawsuit takes a different tactic, arguing that Elon Musk's businesses violated the city's Consumer Protection Ordinance. This complaint, as reported by The Guardian, said that xAI marketed Grok as an all-purpose AI assistant without disclosing the risks and exposure to harm of using both Grok and the X social network. "Baltimore's consumer protection laws exist to safeguard residents from exactly this kind of emerging harm," City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson said. "When companies introduce powerful technologies without adequate guardrails, the City has both the authority and the obligation to act. We are stepping in now to protect our residents, hold these companies accountable, and prevent these harms from becoming further entrenched as this technology continues to evolve." The other notable action against Grok within the US stemmed from a potential class action filed by three teenagers who alleged that photos of them were used to create child sexual abuse material.

Baltimore sues Elon Musk's AI company over Grok's fake nude images

Lawsuit argues XAI failed to disclose risks, limitations and exposure to harm that come with using chatbot The mayor and city council of Baltimore, Maryland, filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI company on Tuesday, alleging that its Grok chatbot violated consumer protections by generating nonconsensual sexualized images. Baltimore's lawsuit argues that xAI deceptively marketed Grok as a general-purpose AI assistant and X as a mainstream social media site, failing to disclose the risks, limitations and exposure to harm that come with using the platform and chatbot. The suit, filed in the circuit court for Baltimore city, argues that the court has jurisdiction over xAI given that the company advertises and operates in Baltimore. "Grok has flooded the feeds of Baltimore's X users with NCII (non-consensual intimate imagery) and CSAM (child sexual abuse material)," the city's complaint states. "Grok further exposed Baltimore residents to the risk that any photograph they uploaded - of themselves or of their children - could be ingested by Grok and transformed into sexually degrading deepfakes without their knowledge or consent". xAI did not immediately return a request for comment. xAI has faced multiple lawsuits and international investigations over its Grok AI product in recent months, following a period when the chatbot generated millions of AI-altered sexualized images earlier this year. Many of these sexualized images were created using photos of women without their consent, according to researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which also estimated that Grok produced around 23,000 sexualized images of children over an 11 day period in December and January. "We're talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children. Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it's a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable," the Baltimore mayor, Brandon Scott, said in a statement. Musk has denied any knowledge of Grok producing child sexual abuse material, stating in January that he was "not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero". The company added restrictions to Grok's image generation capabilities in earlier January following backlash and threats of regulatory action from multiple countries. Baltimore's case is unique in that it is alleging violations of city ordinance and consumer protection, as opposed to other suits brought by individual users claiming personal and reputational harms. "The city is setting a powerful example for municipalities nationwide in confronting a novel and rapidly advancing technology - and an emerging area of law - where accountability has not yet caught up with innovation," Adam Levitt, an attorney representing Baltimore in the case, said in a statement. In another case against xAI filed earlier this month, three Tennessee teenage girls alleged that Grok used photos of them to create and distribute child sexual abuse material. The class action lawsuit was the first filed by minors following Grok's nonconsensual image generation scandal, and alleged that a third-party app used xAI's technology to generate fully nude images of the girls which were then shared online.

Baltimore sues Elon Musk's xAI over Grok sexual deepfakes

On Tuesday, Baltimore's city government filed a lawsuit in circuit court against Elon Musk's AI company, xAI. The lawsuit claims that the Grok chatbot breaks local consumer protection laws by producing explicit, nonconsensual deepfakes, including images of minors. City officials say the company misled people by promoting X $TWTR as a regular social network and Grok as a safe, everyday tool. The complaint says this marketing hides the risk that users could see illegal content or have their family photos turned into degrading, sexually explicit images without their consent. The lawsuit cites research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that the software created about three million sexualized images in 11 days between late December and early January. News outlets differ on the number of images showing minors: NBC News reports about 20,000, while The Guardian estimates about 23,000 and Reuters cites more than 23,000. The city also criticizes a feature called "spicy mode." According to NBC News, the lawsuit says this function allows people to digitally remove clothing from photos of public figures, private citizens, and children, then place their images into violent or sexually degrading scenes. The lawsuit also points to a social media post from December 31, 2025, where Musk shared an AI-generated image of himself at age 54 in a blue string bikini. Baltimore's lawyers say this post publicly encouraged users to create exposing pictures of actual people. Mayor Brandon M. Scott stressed how harmful these deepfakes are. In media statements, he said they cause lasting trauma for victims and pose a serious threat to privacy, safety, and dignity. He added that those responsible should be held accountable. Baltimore is asking the court for the highest possible financial penalties and other fines. City officials also want a court order requiring the company to change its advertising, redesign its platform, and stop taking advantage of local residents. This lawsuit comes as the company faces global scrutiny. Reuters says xAI is under investigation in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia, which led it to limit some image generation features in mid-January. At that time, Musk said he had no knowledge of the software creating nude images of minors. The Guardian also reports on a separate class-action lawsuit filed in March by three teenagers in Tennessee. They say an outside app used xAI's technology to create and share nude images of them. xAI and its related companies did not immediately respond to media questions about the case.

Baltimore Becomes the Latest to Sue Elon Musk's X and xAI Over Grok Deepfakes - Decrypt

Legal experts say the case may hinge on whether courts view AI systems as active creators of harmful content rather than passive tools. Baltimore's lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI and its Grok chatbot could decide how far cities can go to regulate artificial intelligence in the absence of federal law, according to one expert. The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore have sued X Corp., xAI, and SpaceX in a Maryland court, alleging the companies violated local consumer protection laws by designing and deploying Grok, a generative AI system accused of producing and spreading non-consensual sexualized images, including of minors. The lawsuit claims Grok enables users to "undress" or "manipulate images" of real people with minimal prompting, exposing residents to privacy violations and psychological harm, according to a statement from law firm DiCello Levitt, which is representing the city alongside the Baltimore City Law Department. "These deepfakes, especially those depicting minors, have traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims," Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in the statement. The case arrives amid growing global scrutiny of Grok, including investigations across the U.S., EU, France, UK, Australia, and Ireland, as well as a federal class action filed last week by three Tennessee minors alleging the tool generated child sexual abuse material using their real images. "This lawsuit can be seen as a strategic move by a city to regulate AI in the absence of federal legislation, using consumer protection and public harm doctrines to bring AI companies within its enforcement ambit," Ishita Sharma, managing partner at Fathom Legal, told Decrypt. "On liability, while users prompting harmful content will be part of the argument, the stronger legal focus is likely to be on whether the AI system itself materially contributed," Sharma said, adding that if courts view Grok "as an active creator rather than a passive intermediary," responsibility will fall more heavily on xAI. The Baltimore suit alleges the companies "designed, marketed, and deployed" Grok, knowing it could generate non-consensual intimate imagery and material resembling child sexual abuse content, while publicly claiming such content was prohibited. The complaint cites estimates that Grok generated between 1.8 million and 3 million sexualized images in just days between December 29, 2025, and January 8, 2026, including around 23,000 depicting children, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate and a New York Times analysis. Baltimore alleges the surge was partly triggered after Elon Musk amplified Grok's image-editing feature by responding "Perfect" to a bikini image of himself generated by the tool, with output rising from roughly 300,000 images in the nine days before his post to nearly 600,000 per day on X. "X is now one of the largest distributors of NCII and CSAM," the lawsuit reads, citing the defendants' own platform policies banning such content as evidence of deceptive misrepresentation. "Evidence of delayed safeguards or inaction in the face of known risks would strengthen claims of negligence or recklessness," Sharma said, adding that dismissal of the suit appears unlikely, with settlement the most probable outcome, though the case could still result in "a precedent-setting ruling on AI accountability." The city is seeking civil penalties, injunctive relief to halt the unlawful conduct, restitution for affected residents, and disgorgement of ill-gotten profits.

Baltimore sues Musk's xAI over Grok's creation of sexually explicit images

The city of Baltimore filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, alleging that its tool, Grok, has continued to generate non-consensual sexual images in violation of the city's consumer protection and deceptive practice laws. The complaint claims that users on Musk's social media platform X are at risk of being exposed to the Grok-generated content "simply by using a mainstream consumer social media platform" and are at risk of having their own photos "transformed into sexually degrading deepfakes without their knowledge or consent." Baltimore said those risks did not align with xAI's marketing, which it said positioned Grok and X as safe platforms and products for users, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. "Baltimore residents have a reasonable expectation that they will not be exposed to this illegal content on X, and that X will not harass its own customers with Grok-generated deepfakes," the complaint said. In its lawsuit, the city said Grok's "most controversial offerings," dubbed "spicy mode," allows users to ask Grok to undress or nudify photos of celebrities and private citizens, including children. As a result, it places many in "sexually suggestive, degrading, or violent scenarios," the complaint said. In an analysis cited in the complaint, the Center for Countering Digital Hate reported that between December 29, 2025, and January 8, 2026, Grok created three million sexualized images, including around 20,000 depicting children. Baltimore claimed that Grok made "obscene and offensive modifications" to content, including placing a "donut glaze" on a child's face. In another instance, a female victim alleges Grok "non-consensually undressed her and eventually generated images of her completely naked." Grok's generation of such images has often come as a result of user-requests to Grok. Undressing images using Grok became a trend among users in January. The city also alleged that Musk himself promoted the tool's editing capabilities by participating in the trend by posting an edited photo of himself in a bikini. "Musk's post functioned as public endorsement of Grok's ability to generate sexualized or revealing edits of real people, and it signaled to users that these uses of Grok were acceptable, humorous, and encouraged," the complaint said. Eventually, X pulled back some of Grok's ability to create such images directly on the platform, but Grok could still make such images in other parts of the app, and on its standalone website and app. In a statement, Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said, "These deepfakes, especially those depicting minors, have traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims -- who are left with no way to prevent the spread of disturbing, sexualized images created of them without their consent," said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. Scott added, "Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it's a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable." Baltimore is seeking the "maximum amount of statutory penalties," however, the filing doesn't specify the total amount of damages. The city is also calling on the court to order Musk's company to "cease the targeting and exploitation of Baltimore's residents" and requiring it "to reform their exploitative platform design feature restrictions and enhanced marketing restrictions," according to the filing. Last week, a group of teenagers in Tennessee sued xAI, claiming that Grok created sexually explicit images of them as minors. Baltimore appears to be the first city government to file such a lawsuit against xAI. Since the undressing trend initially sparked controversy in early January, governments and political bodies including the EU, California state and House Democrats have announced various inquiries and investigations into Grok and its undressing abilities. xAI and X didn't immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

Baltimore sues Elon Musk's xAI over Grok sexual 'deepfakes' - The Economic Times

Musk launched Grok in 2023 and distributes it through his social media platform X, which like xAI is now part of his rocket and ⁠space exploration ⁠company SpaceX.The city of Baltimore sued Elon Musk's xAI on Tuesday, claiming its Grok chatbot illegally generates nonconsensual sexually explicit images, including of children. Baltimore, with a population of about 568,000, is the largest city to sue xAI over "deepfakes" attributed to Grok, its lawyers said. Musk launched Grok in 2023 and distributes it through his social media platform X, which like xAI is now part of his rocket and ⁠space exploration ⁠company SpaceX. Neither SpaceX nor xAI immediately responded to requests for comment. The Maryland city said in a complaint filed in Baltimore Circuit Court that xAI is violating its consumer protection statute by promoting Grok as a safe, general-purpose artificial intelligence assistant for everyday people. Baltimore said Grok has flooded X users with objectionable content, becoming one of the largest distributors of material depicting nonconsensual sexual activity and child sexual abuse despite promising it bans such ⁠content and permits only consensually produced adult nudity. The city also said X, formerly known as Twitter, generated an estimated 3 million realistic-looking sexualized images --including more than 23,000 ⁠of children -- over 11 days around the start of the year. "We're talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement. "It's a threat to privacy, dignity and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable." Regulators in several countries probing Grok Musk's xAI faces regulatory probes in several countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and in Australia over Grok. In mid-January, xAI said it restricted image editing in Grok, and blocked users from generating images of people in revealing clothing in "jurisdictions where it's illegal." Musk said at the time he was "not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero." The complaint includes ⁠a Grok-generated image that Musk shared on December 31, 2025, depicting the 54-year-old in a blue string bikini. Baltimore called it a "public endorsement" of Grok's ability to generate revealing edits of real people. The 3 million estimate came from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, based on a random sample of 20,000 images that Grok generated. Baltimore is seeking an injunction requiring xAI to change Grok's "exploitative" design features, and pay unspecified fines. Last month's combination of SpaceX and xAI created the world's most valuable private company, worth about $1.25 trillion at the time.

Elon Musk's xAI Hit With Lawsuit As Baltimore Claims Grok Flooded X With Millions Of Explicit Deepfake Images

On Tuesday, the city of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's artificial intelligence firm xAI, claiming its chatbot Grok has been used to create nonconsensual sexually explicit images. Baltimore Accuses xAI Of Enabling Harmful Deepfake Content In a complaint filed in state court, Baltimore alleges Grok became a major source of deepfake content, including material depicting minors, despite the company's claims that such content is restricted, Reuters reported. Users on X generated roughly 3 million realistic sexualized images over 11 days, including more than 23,000 involving children. The 3 million estimate is based on research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. City officials argue this reflects systemic failures in Grok's safeguards and moderation tools. Mayor Calls It A Threat To Privacy And Safety Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the issue as a serious public safety concern, accusing tech platforms of enabling exploitation and violating individual privacy and dignity. The lawsuit claims xAI misled consumers by promoting Grok as a safe, general-purpose AI tool while allegedly allowing harmful content to spread. xAI Yet To Respond As Regulatory Pressure Mounts Neither xAI nor Musk's affiliated entities have publicly responded to the lawsuit. xAI did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. Baltimore is seeking court intervention to force design changes and impose financial penalties, as global scrutiny of AI-generated deepfakes continues to intensify. Earlier this month, three teenagers from Tennessee also filed a federal class-action lawsuit against xAI, accusing its chatbot Grok of creating sexualized images of them without their consent. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo Courtesy: gguy on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.