British MP sues Elon Musk's xAI over Grok deepfake images - The News International

British Labour MP Jess Asato has initiated legal action against Elon Musk's xAI, filing a High Court claim following the creation of non-consensual deepfake images and videos of her generated by the Grok chatbot. This case represents a significant legal challenge regarding the unchecked proliferation of abusive AI-generated content on social platforms.

What happened

The harassment began in January 2025 after Asato publicly discussed the image-editing features integrated into Elon Musk's platform, X. The platform's tool allows users to modify existing photographs using simple text-based commands. Leveraging this functionality, users generated sexually explicit deepfakes of Asato, including images of her in bikinis and an AI-generated video depicting assault.

Asato has characterized her experience as part of a much larger crisis, noting that thousands of women and children have been targeted by similar sexualized AI deepfakes. Researchers have estimated that approximately three million abusive AI images were produced using the Grok tool in a matter of days. While the platform stated it would implement changes to prevent the creation of sexualized content involving women and children, critics have labeled the response as reactive and insufficient. Asato maintains that xAI must face consequences for the harm caused by their technology, asserting that such abuse should never have been allowed to occur.