GoKawiilElon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm, xAI, is requesting the public identification of four people who allegedly had deepfake sexualized images created of them using Grok—including one apparently targeted with sexualized deepfake images of them as a child, according to recently filed court documents.
On May 29, the four main claimants in a federal class-action lawsuit—currently identified as South Carolina Doe, South Carolina Roe, New Jersey Doe, and Ohio Doe—described in affidavits the emotional distress they had suffered after the alleged deepfakes were created earlier this year. The four fear further online harassment and doxing if they are forced to use their real names in the lawsuit against xAI, the documents allege.
“Having stripped them of their clothes, xAI now seeks to strip Plaintiffs of their pseudonyms in an obvious effort to intimidate Plaintiffs into dropping the litigation by compounding the same harms that they seek to remedy,” Sophia Rios, a lawyer representing the individuals for legal firm Berger Montague, wrote in a recent filing. “Asking this Court to reverse itself, xAI suggests that the abuse it has perpetuated is no big deal.” Rios tells WIRED she is unable to comment beyond what is written in the filings.
In January, use of the Musk-owned Grok chatbot caused global outrage as scores of men used the generative AI system to create fake images of women “undressed” and in bikinis. The images, which were posted on X, also included sexualized images of apparent children. Analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate has claimed Grok was used to create around 3 million sexualized images over just 11 days, with 23,000 of those potentially including children. Facing a wave of lawsuits and regulation around the world, SpaceX, which now owns xAI, has set aside more than $500 million to deal with the fallout.
The class-action lawsuit against xAI was initially filed in January with one pseudonymous lead claimant. A judge in the US District Court for the Northern District of California approved an order allowing them to be a Jane Doe in the case. The case was later refiled with the four main pseudonymous plaintiffs at the start of May, with the Jane Doe becoming South Carolina Doe.
Statements in court records say those suing xAI would make their names and personal information known to the company but wanted to use pseudonyms in public to protect their privacy, to not be publicly linked to the images, and to reduce any potential for being further harassed online. Deepfake images of the plaintiffs were not included in any of the public legal filings.
In the middle of May, xAI filed two motions with the federal district court in northern California asking for the judge to overturn their ruling allowing the use of pseudonyms in the case. The documents state that under civil court laws, which can have some exceptions, cases must name all of the parties involved. Law360 first reported on xAI’s motions asking the previous decision be overturned.
In two motions, xAI’s lawyers claim that real names should be used by those launching the lawsuit as there is a public interest in the identities of those suing the company. They claimed that no evidence has been put forward for any specific further harm or threats to individuals in the case. And they also say that because deepfake images will not be made public as part of the lawsuit, this should assuage any privacy concerns.