Teens Take Legal Action Against Elon Musk’s xAI Over Grok’s AI-Generated CSAM

Three teenagers from Tennessee are taking legal action against Elon Musk’s xAI, claiming that the Grok AI chatbot produced sexualized images and videos of them while they were minors. The class action lawsuit, filed on Monday, alleges that Musk and other leaders at xAI were aware that Grok would create AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) when it introduced its “spicy mode” last year.

The plaintiffs consist of two minors and an adult who was underage during the incidents described in the lawsuit. One victim, referred to as “Jane Doe 1,” reported discovering explicit, AI-generated images of herself and at least 18 other minors on Discord last December. The lawsuit states that “at least five of these files, one video and four images, depicted her actual face and body in familiar settings, but altered into sexually explicit poses.”

The individual responsible, who has since been arrested, allegedly used Jane Doe 1’s AI-generated CSAM as a bargaining chip in Telegram group chats with hundreds of users, trading her files for explicit content of other minors. The lawsuit claims that the explicit images of Jane Doe 1 and the other victims were created using Grok and asserts that xAI “failed to test the safety of the features it developed,” labeling Grok as “defective in design.”

Musk and xAI have faced significant backlash after Grok inundated X with explicit images involving both adults and minors. This incident has led to calls for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Grok, a probe from the European Union, and a warning from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Additionally, the Senate passed a bill in January allowing victims of nonconsensual deepfakes to sue creators of such images, while the Take It Down Act, signed into law in 2025, will criminalize the distribution of nonconsensual, AI-generated deepfakes starting in May.

Despite efforts by X to restrict users from editing images with Grok, reports indicate that manipulation of uploaded images remains possible. X has stated that “anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will face the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content.” The company did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

“These are children whose school photographs and family pictures were turned into child sexual abuse material by a billion-dollar company’s AI tool and then traded among predators,” said Annika K. Martin, one of the victims’ lawyers. “We intend to hold xAI accountable for every child they harmed in this way.”

The lawsuit seeks damages for the victims affected by Grok’s “illegal images” and requests the court to prevent xAI from generating and distributing alleged AI-generated CSAM.