Ashley St. Clair Sues Elon Musk’s xAI Over Alleged Grok-Generated Explicit Images

Ashley St. Clair, a conservative influencer and author, has filed a lawsuit against xAI, alleging that the company’s chatbot, Grok, was used to create and distribute explicit, nonconsensual images of her.

According to the court filing, the images included sexualized depictions of St. Clair that were deeply offensive and abusive. One image allegedly showed her “stripped and put in a string bikini covered with swastikas,” while another depicted her “as a child stripped down to a string bikini.” St. Clair, who is Jewish, says the content was both degrading and traumatic.

“xAI is not a reasonably safe product,” St. Clair’s attorney, Carrie Goldberg, said. “Nobody has borne the brunt more than Ashley St. Clair. Grok was harassing her by creating and distributing nonconsensual, abusive, and degrading images of her and publishing them on X.”

The lawsuit comes amid growing global concern over sexualized deepfake imagery circulating on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. Critics argue that the spread of such content has outpaced safeguards meant to protect users.

Musk has dismissed some of the backlash, claiming critics of X are politically motivated and using the controversy as an “excuse for censorship.”

In response to earlier reporting, X pointed to a statement saying it has added technical limits to Grok. The company said it now prevents the chatbot from editing images of real people in revealing clothing, including bikinis, and that the restriction applies to all users, even paid subscribers.

St. Clair’s lawsuit argues those measures came too late. She says she repeatedly asked for the images to be removed and reported them through X’s systems, but was told there was “no violation found.” The filing claims much of the content remained publicly available on Grok’s X account for more than seven days.

The suit alleges xAI is “directly liable” for the images created by its own chatbot and claims that “X’s reporting structure is defective” and that “Grok was unreasonably dangerous as designed.”

It also accuses the company of retaliation. According to the filing, after St. Clair complained, her X account was demonetized and even more images of her were generated.

St. Clair is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. The filing lists multiple explicit images but notes that these are “merely the images that she knows about.”

The case also unfolds against a complicated personal backdrop. Musk and St. Clair share a son born in 2024. The two are estranged, and Musk has recently said he plans to seek custody of their child.

As the lawsuit moves forward, it adds new pressure on AI companies and social media platforms to address how powerful generative tools can be misused—and who should be held responsible when they are.