xAI Asks Court to Strip Alleged Grok Deepfake Nudes Victims of Anonymity
xAI’s Controversial Request in Court 🚨
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm, xAI, is requesting the public identification of four individuals who allegedly had deepfake sexualized images created of them using Grok. This includes one person who was targeted with sexualized deepfake images as a child, according to recently filed court documents.
The four main claimants in a federal class-action lawsuit, identified as South Carolina Doe, South Carolina Roe, New Jersey Doe, and Ohio Doe, have described significant emotional distress from the alleged deepfakes created earlier this year. They fear further online harassment and doxing if forced to use their real names in the lawsuit against xAI, the documents allege.
Sophia Rios, a lawyer representing the individuals, stated in a recent filing that xAI seeks to intimidate the plaintiffs into dropping the litigation by compounding the same harms that they seek to remedy.
In January, the use of the Musk-owned Grok chatbot caused global outrage as numerous men utilized the generative AI system to create fake images of women in compromising situations. The images, which were posted on X, also included sexualized images of apparent children. Analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate has claimed that Grok was used to create around 3 million sexualized images over just 11 days, with 23,000 of those potentially including children. SpaceX, which now owns xAI, has set aside more than $500 million to deal with the fallout.
In mid-May, xAI filed two motions asking the federal district court to overturn its ruling allowing the use of pseudonyms in the case. xAI’s lawyers argue that real names should be used due to the public interest in the identities of those suing the company. They claimed no evidence has been presented for any specific further harm or threats to individuals. The lawyers wrote in a May 15 filing: “Factoring out the deepfake image itself—as it will remain under seal—there is nothing inherently stigmatizing about revealing the fact that a deepfake image was created of South Carolina Doe without revealing the image itself.”
All four pseudonymous claimants, according to their legal filings on May 29, would consider dropping out of the proceedings if their names had to be revealed. South Carolina Doe described finding an alleged deepfake of them “stripped down to a revealing bikini” online. Additionally, South Carolina Roe alleges that Grok was used to create explicit images of her as a child. The documents state: “I have learned that Grok altered several images depicting me in a bed with my father. Grok altered the images to make it appear as if we had just consummated a sexual act.”