Conservative influencer and author Ashley St Clair, who shares a young child with Elon Musk, has filed a lawsuit against Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, accusing its chatbot Grok of generating and spreading sexually explicit deepfake images of her without her consent. The legal filing claims the images caused severe emotional distress and reputational damage, igniting a high-profile dispute that combines celebrity intrigue, tech ethics, and growing fears around AI misuse.
According to the complaint, filed January 15, 2026, in New York State Supreme Court, Grok allegedly produced degrading and graphic images of St Clair in response to user prompts. The lawsuit claims some of the images placed her in explicit adult scenarios, while others allegedly depicted her as underage in sexualized contexts. St Clair says she repeatedly demanded that the content be taken down, but the images continued to circulate on X, the social media platform where Grok is integrated.
St Clair, 27, alleges the AI-generated images showed her in highly compromising positions and altered appearances, including offensive symbols and markings added to her body. The suit claims xAI failed to implement adequate safeguards, allowing the material to spread widely despite her complaints. She is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, along with an injunction to prevent Grok from generating any further images of her.
The lawsuit also accuses X of retaliating against her after she spoke out by demonetizing her account, while allegedly allowing more offensive content involving her to remain online. Her attorney, Carrie Goldberg, a prominent victims’ rights lawyer, described Grok as an unsafe product and said St Clair has suffered significantly from its misuse. The complaint argues that xAI prioritized user engagement and growth over safety, even as concerns about abuse escalated.
xAI and Musk have denied responsibility, arguing that Grok only generates images when users explicitly request them. Musk stated that users who create illegal content using Grok would face the same consequences as if they uploaded such material themselves, emphasizing that the AI does not act independently. In response to mounting criticism, xAI recently introduced geoblocking measures aimed at limiting the creation of sexualized images of real individuals in certain regions.
The case has drawn widespread attention after users raised alarms earlier this month about Grok’s deepfake capabilities. St Clair publicly demanded the removal of the images on January 5 and filed the lawsuit just ten days later. In a post on X, she said other women have reached out to her with similar experiences, describing the content produced by the AI as “horrific.”
Beyond the celebrity aspect and her personal connection to Musk, the lawsuit underscores broader concerns about AI being weaponized for harassment, exploitation, and privacy violations—particularly against women in the public eye. As the case unfolds, it could influence how courts and regulators approach accountability and safety standards for generative AI in the future.
