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.
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