British Member of Parliament Jess Asato has initiated legal action against xAI, the artificial intelligence arm linked to Elon Musk, alleging the company’s Grok model was used to produce fabricated sexualised imagery of her. The claim, lodged at the High Court in England, accuses xAI of breaching data protection law and misusing her private information.
Asato, who sits in the governing Labour Party, said in a statement that Grok - which is distributed through Musk’s social media platform X - was employed to create deepfake pornography and other sexualised content that harmed thousands of women and children. She described the capability as an intentional feature rather than accidental misuse by third parties, and said she was pursuing legal accountability for the design choices behind the system.
"Grok created deepfake pornography and sexualised content which harmed thousands of women and children," Asato said. "Its ability is not an accident, nor misuse, it is a design choice by its creators. In launching this case, I am pursuing accountability for those choices."
The statement from Asato’s office recounts that after she publicly criticised Grok in January, individuals created and circulated fabricated images showing her in a bikini and a video purporting to show her "being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault." The claim seeks remedies including damages, a formal acknowledgement that what happened to her was illegal, and an order requiring xAI to cease further unlawful conduct.
xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Grok has been under scrutiny since earlier this year following public outcry over its ability to generate non-consensual sexualised imagery. Regulators in several countries are probing the platform. In mid-January, xAI announced restrictions on image editing in Grok and said it would block users from generating images of people in revealing clothing in "jurisdictions where it’s illegal."
Despite those stated curbs, reporting in early February found Grok continued to produce sexualised depictions of people even when users explicitly warned that the depicted subjects did not consent. Those findings have fed ongoing concern over the model’s safeguards and enforcement.
Legal pressure has mounted elsewhere too. In March, the City of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against xAI, arguing Grok’s capacity to create falsified sexualised images violated the city’s consumer protection law.
The legal claim brought on Asato’s behalf was filed by law firm AWO. Ravi Naik, legal director at AWO, framed the case as an early test of liability for the design of an AI system, saying the proceedings are intended to signal to AI developers that safety cannot be treated as an afterthought.
"This is one of the first claims to test liability for the design of an AI system, and we hope it will make it clear to AI developers that safety cannot be an afterthought," Ravi Naik said.
The complaint and the surrounding controversy come as xAI is organisationally connected to SpaceX, Musk’s rocket and space exploration company. The corporate link was noted in communications about the case, with SpaceX identified as the larger organisation within which xAI sits. SpaceX is expected to proceed with a major initial public offering later this month.
The High Court filing and other legal and regulatory actions underline unresolved questions about the responsibilities of AI developers when their systems are used to create harmful, non-consensual content. The Asato claim seeks judicial remedies that could require changes to xAI’s practices, but the outcome remains to be decided by the court.