MP sues Elon Musk's xAI over 'gross violation' of dignity from deepfake sex images
A Suffolk MP has taken Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company to court over what she calls a 'gross violation of her dignity' after its chatbot Grok generated fake sexualised images and videos of her, including depictions of sexual assault.
Jess Asato, the Labour MP for Lowestoft, is suing xAI for damages, claiming the non-consensual content was widely shared online. She is also seeking a court order requiring the company to locate and remove any remaining images, and has raised concerns over misuse of private information and breaches of data protection rules.
Court documents published Tuesday reveal that Asato first spoke out against Grok's ability to create deepfake images of women back in January. Her lawyer, Marie Demetriou KC, told the court that the MP had posted on X, calling on Musk to 'understand that using AI to strip women without their consent is sexual assault designed to degrade and humiliate.'
According to the filings, several X users then prompted Grok to generate 'sexualised, intimate, grossly offensive, degrading, threatening, humiliating and/or discriminatory non-consensual images' of Asato. When the MP tried to report some of the posts, X refused to remove them, stating in March that they did not violate its terms of service, privacy policy or rules. Two videos were eventually taken down, but six out of 21 posts reported in February were still live as of late July, the documents said.
xAI has since said it would prevent users from generating sexualised images of real people through Grok. The UK has also made it illegal to create or request a non-consensual deepfake image of an adult. But Demetriou argued that xAI has 'failed and is failing' to stop the continued creation of such content.
The case, which has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, comes amid growing scrutiny of AI-generated content and its societal impact. Legal experts say the lawsuit could set a precedent for holding AI companies accountable for harmful outputs, especially as deepfake technology becomes more accessible. Asato's move highlights the tension between free speech on platforms like X and the need to protect individuals from digital abuse.
If you, or someone you know, has been affected by sexual abuse, organisations listed at BBC Action Line may be able to help.
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