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

Baltimore’s suit against Elon Musk’s xAI and its Grok chatbot could determine however acold cities tin spell to modulate artificial quality successful the lack of national law, according to 1 expert.

The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore person sued X Corp., xAI, and SpaceX successful a Maryland court, alleging the companies violated section user extortion laws by designing and deploying Grok, a generative AI strategy accused of producing and spreading non-consensual sexualized images, including of minors.

The suit claims Grok enables users to “undress” oregon “manipulate images” of existent radical with minimal prompting, exposing residents to privateness violations and intelligence harm, according to a statement from instrumentality steadfast DiCello Levitt, which is representing the metropolis alongside the Baltimore City Law Department.

“These deepfakes, particularly those depicting minors, person traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said successful the statement.

The lawsuit arrives amid increasing planetary scrutiny of Grok, including investigations crossed the U.S., EU, France, UK, Australia, and Ireland, arsenic good arsenic a national people enactment filed past week by three Tennessee minors alleging the instrumentality generated kid intersexual maltreatment worldly utilizing their existent images.

"This suit tin beryllium seen arsenic a strategical determination by a metropolis to modulate AI successful the lack of national legislation, utilizing user extortion and nationalist harm doctrines to bring AI companies wrong its enforcement ambit," Ishita Sharma, managing spouse astatine Fathom Legal, told Decrypt.

“On liability, portion users prompting harmful contented volition beryllium portion of the argument, the stronger ineligible absorption is apt to beryllium connected whether the AI strategy itself materially contributed,” Sharma said, adding that if courts presumption Grok “as an progressive creator alternatively than a passive intermediary,” work volition autumn much heavy connected xAI.

By design

The Baltimore suit alleges the companies "designed, marketed, and deployed" Grok, knowing it could make non-consensual intimate imagery and worldly resembling kid intersexual maltreatment content, portion publically claiming specified contented was prohibited.

The ailment cites estimates that Grok generated betwixt 1.8 cardinal and 3 cardinal sexualized images successful conscionable days betwixt December 29, 2025, and January 8, 2026, including around 23,000 depicting children, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate and a New York Times analysis.

Baltimore alleges the surge was partially triggered aft Elon Musk amplified Grok’s image-editing diagnostic by responding “Perfect” to a bikini representation of himself generated by the tool, with output rising from astir 300,000 images successful the 9 days earlier his station to astir 600,000 per time connected X.

"X is present 1 of the largest distributors of NCII and CSAM," the suit reads, citing the defendants' ain level policies banning specified contented arsenic grounds of deceptive misrepresentation.

“Evidence of delayed safeguards oregon inaction successful the look of known risks would fortify claims of negligence oregon recklessness,” Sharma said, adding that dismissal of the suit appears unlikely, with colony the astir probable outcome, though the lawsuit could inactive effect successful “a precedent-setting ruling connected AI accountability.”

The metropolis is seeking civilian penalties, injunctive alleviation to halt the unlawful conduct, restitution for affected residents, and disgorgement of ill-gotten profits.

Decrypt has reached retired to Musk via xAI and SpaceX for comment.