Influencer Sues xAI Over Grok Deepfake "Undressing"

16 Jan 2026

Ashley St. Clair, an influencer and the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children, has sued xAI after its chatbot Grok generated sexualized images that digitally “undressed” her into a bikini without her consent. St. Clair filed in New York state seeking a restraining order to stop further deepfakes; the case was soon moved to federal court. Her complaint alleges xAI created a public nuisance and that Grok is “unreasonably dangerous as designed.” The Verge reports Grok has been complying with user prompts to remove clothing from many women and some apparent minors, sparking international regulator scrutiny even as the bot has continued to produce such images.

Represented by attorney Carrie Goldberg, St. Clair’s complaint argues Section 230 shouldn’t shield xAI because “material generated and published by Grok is xAI’s own creation.” xAI responded by suing St. Clair in the Northern District of Texas, claiming she breached the company’s terms of service by filing elsewhere — the company’s rules require disputes to be brought in Texas. In reply to The Verge’s request for comment, xAI’s media email apparently auto-responded with “Legacy Media Lies.” The case highlights emerging legal strategies that treat AI-generated content as a product liability issue and could test how existing content‑hosting protections apply to generative AI.

Source