Baltimore Becomes the Latest to Sue Elon Musk’s X and xAI Over Grok Deepfakes

Baltimore’s lawsuit in opposition to Elon Musk’s xAI and its Grok chatbot may determine how far cities can go to control synthetic intelligence within the absence of federal legislation, based on one skilled.

The Mayor and Metropolis Council of Baltimore have sued X Corp., xAI, and SpaceX in a Maryland courtroom, alleging the businesses violated native shopper safety legal guidelines by designing and deploying Grok, a generative AI system accused of manufacturing and spreading non-consensual sexualized pictures, together with of minors.

The lawsuit claims Grok allows customers to “undress” or “manipulate pictures” of actual folks with minimal prompting, exposing residents to privateness violations and psychological hurt, based on a statement from legislation agency DiCello Levitt, which is representing the town alongside the Baltimore Metropolis Legislation Division.

“These deepfakes, particularly these depicting minors, have traumatic, lifelong penalties for victims,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott stated within the assertion.

The case arrives amid rising world scrutiny of Grok, together with investigations throughout the U.S., EU, France, UK, Australia, and Ireland, in addition to a federal class motion filed final week by three Tennessee minors alleging the instrument generated little one sexual abuse materials utilizing their actual pictures.

“This lawsuit will be seen as a strategic transfer by a metropolis to control AI within the absence of federal laws, utilizing shopper safety and public hurt doctrines to carry AI firms inside its enforcement ambit,” Ishita Sharma, managing companion at Fathom Authorized, informed Decrypt.

“On legal responsibility, whereas customers prompting dangerous content material shall be a part of the argument, the stronger authorized focus is more likely to be on whether or not the AI system itself materially contributed,” Sharma stated, including that if courts view Grok “as an energetic creator fairly than a passive middleman,” duty will fall extra closely on xAI.

By design

The Baltimore swimsuit alleges the businesses “designed, marketed, and deployed” Grok, figuring out it may generate non-consensual intimate imagery and materials resembling little one sexual abuse content material, whereas publicly claiming such content material was prohibited.

The grievance cites estimates that Grok generated between 1.8 million and three million sexualized pictures in simply days between December 29, 2025, and January 8, 2026, together with around 23,000 depicting children, based on the Middle for Countering Digital Hate and a New York Occasions evaluation.

Baltimore alleges the surge was partly triggered after Elon Musk amplified Grok’s image-editing characteristic by responding “Excellent” to a bikini picture of himself generated by the instrument, with output rising from roughly 300,000 pictures within the 9 days earlier than his put up to just about 600,000 per day on X.

“X is now one of many largest distributors of NCII and CSAM,” the lawsuit reads, citing the defendants’ personal platform insurance policies banning such content material as proof of misleading misrepresentation.

“Proof of delayed safeguards or inaction within the face of recognized dangers would strengthen claims of negligence or recklessness,” Sharma stated, including that dismissal of the swimsuit seems unlikely, with settlement probably the most possible end result, although the case may nonetheless end in “a precedent-setting ruling on AI accountability.”

The town is in search of civil penalties, injunctive aid to halt the illegal conduct, restitution for affected residents, and disgorgement of ill-gotten income.

Decrypt has reached out to Musk by way of xAI and SpaceX for remark.