xAI sues a man for using Grok to generate CSAM ‘deepfakes’

Emma Roth

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

The Elon Musk-owned xAI is suing a South Carolina man who allegedly used the company’s Grok AI chatbot to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In a lawsuit reported earlier by Reuters, xAI claims Terry Wayne Harwood “knowingly and intentionally used Grok to circumvent safeguards, alter nonconsensual images, and generate and distribute CSAM,” breaching the company’s policies.

Harwood was arrested in February for allegedly possessing and distributing CSAM and is facing eight felony charges. The lawsuit claims “at least some” of the images related to Harwood’s criminal charges “were generated or altered” with Grok, and that Harwood bypassed Grok’s safeguards and “abused the tool to convert non-sexual photographs into sexually explicit images” without the subjects’ consent.

After rolling out a “spicy” mode for Grok last year, xAI added the ability to edit images with the chatbot, leading to a flood of sexualized AI deepfakes, including ones with minors. A group of teens sued xAI in March over claims Grok generated sexualized images of themselves as minors. Musk responded by saying, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” though this appears to be the first time xAI has sued anyone over AI deepfakes created with Grok.

xAI claims Harwood’s alleged actions exposed the company to “significant legal risk and reputational damage.” It has asked the court to order Harwood to pay xAI for any damages, as well as “reasonable expenses incurred defending itself in any legal action filed by a victim of Defendant’s conduct.” xAI also wants the judge to block Harwood from creating an xAI account or using Grok.

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Emma Roth