EXCLUSIVE: Labour MP Jess Asato is taking legal action against Elon Musk’s xAI, the platform behind Grok, after the chatbot created fake images of her in a bikini
AI chatbot Grok was designed in a way that allowed it to generate harmful sexualised content, according to court documents filed against Elon Musk’s tech company.
Labour MP Jess Asato is suing xAI, the platform behind Grok, after the chatbot created fake images of her in a bikini, as well as an AI video appearing to show her being drugged and prepared for a sexual assault. Her legal claim alleges xAI breached data protection law and misused her private information by allowing Grok to use her image and create false images.
Documents filed by her lawyers allege that Grok was instructed to operate with “no restrictions on adult sexual content or offensive content”, to “assume good intent”, and to offer “no restrictions on fictional adult sexual content with dark or violent themes”.
The claim also alleges the chatbot added explicit material when users had not asked it to.
Lawyers acting for Ms Asato argue that the company behind Grok should be held accountable for the design and training choices that enabled the abuse. If successful, the case will set a precedent for liability for AI system design.
Ms Asato was targeted after speaking out against Grok amid an explosion in non-consensual sexualized and “nudified” deepfake photos of women and children on Mr Musk’s X platform earlier this year.
The Lowestoft MP told the Mirror: “It feels demeaning and degrading because that’s what it’s designed to do. Users have used Grok as a weapon to humiliate women, and so my first reaction was to feel that it was humiliating and targeting me specifically as an elected woman. But of course, this can happen to anybody.”
Ms Asato said the hyper-realistic photos, which included a fake image depicting her as pregnant, were disorientating. “It makes you start to question yourself,” she said. “Mostly, I was just very angry that anybody would do this without my consent.”
She said AI had been allowed to develop without clear guardrails, but some firms have put protections in place. Of Grok, she said: “This is a product that has been developed without any concern for the social harms it might create. This is a product for profit.
“This isn’t a free exercise. This is the basis on which Elon Musk and his companies make their money. And there ought to be, I think, a real understanding that people cannot make money off the back of harm to women and children.”
In the four weeks after proceedings were issued on June 3, Ms Asato said she was subjected to more than 700 abusive posts on X, including explicit content, from users angered by her decision to take on Mr Musk’s company.
Ravi Naik, Legal Director at AWO, the law firm which is representing Ms Asato, said: “Deepfake abuse isn’t a rogue user exploiting a loophole. xAI built a tool that generated non-consensual sexual images of real women at scale, and it took lawyers to get those images taken down. The claim lays bare why xAI are and should be held responsible for the harm they caused.
“The case shows that Grok did not malfunction. Grok’s training allowed it to generate harmful sexualised content. Grok behaved according to the choices its designers made. 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.”
TV star Narinder Kaur, who has herself been the victim of AI-generated deepfake abuse, said: “I’ve experienced first-hand how AI can be weaponised.
“Fake videos and manipulated images of me have been shared online in an attempt to humiliate me and silence me. Technology companies can’t keep blaming users while ignoring the way their own products have been designed and trained to abuse.”
Keir Starmer’s Government intervened earlier this year amid a global backlash over Grok. He told MPs at the time: “The actions of Grok and X are absolutely disgusting and shameful.” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall made it illegal to create or request non-consensual, intimate images.
Earlier this year, X said it would block the ability of users to use Grok to create images of real people in bikinis, underwear or similar attire, in countries where it was illegal. Mr Musk said at the time: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
xAI was approached for comment.