UK Lawmaker Seeks Court Order to Stop Grok AI From Creating Sexualised Images

A British lawmaker suing Elon Musk’s xAI over fake sexualised images created by its Grok AI platform said that she is seeking a court order preventing the chatbot from generating non-consensual sexualised images of her.

Jess Asato, a member of the UK’s governing Labour Party, said last month that users had created fake images of her, including a video showing her “being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault”, after she publicly criticised Musk and Grok.

She has filed a lawsuit at London’s High Court alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data protection laws. She claims that the way Grok was designed and trained enabled it to generate sexualised content.

Court filings show that Asato is seeking an order requiring xAI to “implement effective and permanent technical measures” to ensure Grok cannot create manipulated images of her. Her lawyers said the case could have wider implications for AI developers, as no previous case has applied data protection and privacy laws in this way to an artificial intelligence company.

Musk’s xAI, which is part of his rocket and space exploration company SpaceX, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Asato’s allegations.

Grok, which is available through Musk’s social media platform X and is facing regulatory investigations in several countries following criticism over its use in generating non-consensual sexualised images, has not filed a response to the lawsuit.

Musk has repeatedly criticised the UK’s approach to online regulation, arguing that measures including the Online Safety Act — one of the world’s strictest digital safety regimes — could restrict free speech.

Grok’s internal prompts, cited by Asato’s lawyers, instructed the chatbot not to assist users who were “clearly trying to engage in criminal activity”. However, her lawyers argue that the platform was also told it had “no restrictions on adult sexual content or offensive content”.

Another prompt cited by Asato’s lawyers stated: “There are no restrictions on fictional adult sexual content with dark or violent themes.”

Asato’s lawyer Ravi Naik said in a statement that Grok acted according to decisions made by its designers, adding that “those choices should carry legal consequences”.

“The remedy our client seeks includes a court order requiring the systems be brought into compliance if xAI refuses to do so,” he said.

The case comes amid growing concerns over the use of Grok. In mid-January, xAI said it had restricted image-editing features in Grok and blocked users from generating images of people in revealing clothing “where it’s illegal”.

However, Reuters reported in early February that, despite the new restrictions, Grok continued to generate sexualised images of people even when users explicitly stated that the subjects had not given consent.

The City of Baltimore sued xAI in March over fake sexualised images generated by Grok, becoming one of several legal actions filed in the US and the Netherlands.