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 resolve how far cities can go to control synthetic intelligence within the absence of federal regulation, based on one professional.

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 photographs, together with of minors.

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



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

The case arrives amid rising world scrutiny of Grok, together with investigations throughout the U.S., EU, France, UK, Australia, and Eire, 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 photographs.

“This lawsuit may 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 convey AI firms inside its enforcement ambit,” Ishita Sharma, managing companion at Fathom Authorized, instructed Decrypt.

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

By design

The Baltimore go well with 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 criticism cites estimates that Grok generated between 1.8 million and three million sexualized photographs in simply days between December 29, 2025, and January 8, 2026, together with round 23,000 depicting youngsters, 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 “Good” to a bikini picture of himself generated by the instrument, with output rising from roughly 300,000 photographs within the 9 days earlier than his put up to almost 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 identified dangers would strengthen claims of negligence or recklessness,” Sharma mentioned, including that dismissal of the go well with seems unlikely, with settlement probably the most possible end result, although the case may nonetheless lead to “a precedent-setting ruling on AI accountability.”

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 through xAI and SpaceX for remark.