{"id":415099,"date":"2026-01-17T10:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T10:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/415099\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T10:20:15","slug":"ashley-st-clair-sues-elon-musks-xai-over-ai-deepfake-images-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/415099\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashley St. Clair sues Elon Musk\u2019s xAI over AI-deepfake images – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashley St. Clair<\/a>, the mother of Elon Musk\u2019s<\/a> son Romulus, is suing the tech billionaire\u2019s artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) company, xAI<\/a>, alleging the AI chatbot, called Grok<\/a>, created explicit sexual images of her without her consent.<\/p>\n

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St. Clair filed the lawsuit in New York on Jan. 15. It alleges she had notified xAI that users were creating illicit deepfake photos of her \u201cin sexually explicit poses.\u201d<\/p>\n

She requested that the Grok service be prevented from creating non-consensual images, according to the legal documents<\/a>\u00a0obtained by NBC News<\/a> and viewed by Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cxAI\u2019s product Grok, a generative artificial intelligence (\u201cAI\u201d) chatbot, uses AI to undress, humiliate, and sexually exploit victims \u2014 creating genuine looking, altered deep fake content of children covered in semen, women stripped naked and in sexually explicit bikinis, and Holocaust survivors in bikinis in front of concentration camps,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n

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St. Clair, 27, claims that Grok \u201ccreated and disseminated altered, deepfake content\u201d of her on the social media platform X \u201cas a child stripped down to a string bikini, and as an adult in sexually explicit poses.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reported the images to X and requested their removal, according to the lawsuit. But instead, she claims that Grok \u201cproceeded to place warnings for \u2018nudity, sexual content, violence, gore, or hateful symbols\u2019 on St. Clair\u2019s responses to Grok and deboosted her account while simultaneously keeping the images up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cX then, without explanation, removed St. Clair\u2019s Premium subscription, her verification checkmark, and demonetized her account by banning her from the monetization and subscriber program, despite her paying for an annual subscription in August of 2025,\u201d the lawsuit reads. \u201cSt. Clair has now been banned from purchasing Premium entirely without cause or explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit states that as a result of the images, St. Clair has \u201csuffered, and continues to suffer, serious personal injuries, including but not limited to emotional distress, psychological trauma, loss of privacy, reputational harm, and fear of continued dissemination.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Clair is asking for xAI to stop using her image and is seeking monetary damages, including lawyer\u2019s fees incurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cxAI is not a reasonably safe product and is a public nuisance,\u201d St. Clair\u2019s lawyer Carrie Goldberg said in a statement to People<\/a>. \u201cNobody has born[e] the brunt more than Ashley St. Clair. Ashley filed suit because Grok was harassing her by creating and distributing nonconsensual, abusive, and degrading images of her and publishing them on X.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis harm flowed directly from deliberate design choices that enabled Grok to be used as a tool of harassment and humiliation. Companies should not be able to escape responsibility when the products they build predictably cause this kind of harm. We intend to hold Grok accountable and to help establish clear legal boundaries for the entire public\u2019s benefit to prevent AI from being weaponized for abuse,\u201d Goldberg added.<\/p>\n

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After St. Clair filed her lawsuit in New York, it was transferred to the federal Southern District of New York after a request from xAI, according to court documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cxAI files this Notice of Removal solely for the purpose of removing the instant Action and does not waive, and specifically reserves, any and all defenses, arguments, and affirmative matters,\u201d the notice of removal reads.<\/p>\n

The company then sued St. Clair in federal court<\/a> in Texas on Thursday, claiming she violated xAI\u2019s terms of service, and requested damages of more than $75,000.<\/p>\n

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It said that any claims against xAI must be filed in either federal court in the Northern District of Texas or in state courts in Tarrant County, Texas, because that is where the company is based.<\/p>\n

St. Clair and Musk, 54, are currently in a dispute over the custody of their son after she publicly addressed her \u201cblatant transphobia\u201d on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel immense guilt for my role. And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son\u2019s sister more pain,\u201d she wrote on Jan. 11<\/a>, appearing to reference Musk\u2019s daughter Vivian, who is transgender.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also haven\u2019t said much on this bc I have gone back and forth over whether my voice would be helpful on the issue since it will be framed as disingenuous or just turning [because] I\u2019m \u2018scorned,’\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

I feel immense guilt for my role. And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son\u2019s sister more pain. Idrk how to make amends for many of these things but I have been trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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On Jan. 12, Musk referenced St. Clair\u2019s remarks in a post on X and stated he would be \u201cfiling for full custody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy,\u201d Musk wrote in a post on X<\/a> on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n

As of this writing, it\u2019s not known if Musk followed through on filing.<\/p>\n

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St. Clair\u2019s lawsuit against xAI comes as Canada\u2019s privacy watchdog expands its investigation<\/a> into Musk\u2019s X Corporation in light of the company allowing its AI chatbot to generate sexualized images of women and children. On Thursday, the office announced the investigation would grow to include xAI.<\/p>\n

Governments around the world have threatened investigations<\/a> or regulatory action over Grok\u2019s production of sexualized images of people, particularly women, and users\u2019 requests to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM).<\/p>\n

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Indonesia and Malaysia both banned Grok last week, while other countries and the European Commission have threatened investigations that could result in significant fines for the U.S.-based social media company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI [am] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero,\u201d Musk posted on X<\/a> on Jan. 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests,\u201d Musk added, claiming Grok will refuse to produce anything illegal.<\/p>\n

I not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.<\/p>\n

Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests. <\/p>\n

When asked to generate images, it will refuse to produce anything illegal, as the operating principle\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/YBoqo7ZmEj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from Global News\u2019 Alex Boutilier<\/p>\n

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