The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children has filed a lawsuit against his AI company over the release of sexually exploitative deepfake images of her. Ashley St. Clair, 27, alleges that the company’s Grok chatbot enabled users to create such images, causing her humiliation and emotional distress. The lawsuit, filed in New York City against xAI, claims that the images included manipulated photos of St. Clair at a young age and as an adult in sexualized poses, some featuring offensive symbols. St. Clair, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist and is of Jewish descent, is seeking damages for emotional distress and a court order to stop further deepfakes of her.
Following public outcry, Musk’s social media platform X announced restrictions on Grok’s ability to edit photos of real people in revealing attire. Despite St. Clair’s requests to remove the deepfakes, xAI allegedly retaliated by revoking her premium subscription and verification status, preventing her from earning money from her account with 1 million followers. St. Clair expressed ongoing mental anguish due to xAI’s involvement in disseminating the altered images.
St. Clair, the mother of Musk’s toddler son, Romulus, resides in New York City where she filed the lawsuit. xAI’s legal team moved the case to federal court in Manhattan and counter-sued St. Clair in Texas for allegedly violating the user agreement. The company, based in Texas where Musk’s Tesla is headquartered, is pursuing monetary damages against St. Clair. Carrie Goldberg, St. Clair’s attorney, criticized xAI’s countersuit and affirmed St. Clair’s defense in New York.
In response to the controversy, X announced additional measures to regulate Grok, including restricting image modifications to paid accounts to enhance accountability. The platform reiterated its commitment to combating child sexual exploitation and nonconsensual nudity, emphasizing immediate removal of inappropriate content and reporting of offenders to authorities.