Baltimore sues Elon Musk’s xAI over Grok’s fake nude images

On Tuesday, Baltimore’s city government filed a lawsuit in circuit court against Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI. The lawsuit claims that the Grok chatbot breaks local consumer protection laws by producing explicit, nonconsensual deepfakes, including images of minors.

City officials say the company misled people by promoting X $TWTR as a regular social network and Grok as a safe, everyday tool. The complaint says this marketing hides the risk that users could see illegal content or have their family photos turned into degrading, sexually explicit images without their consent.

The lawsuit cites research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that the software created about three million sexualized images in 11 days between late December and early January. News outlets differ on the number of images showing minors: NBC News reports about 20,000, while The Guardian estimates about 23,000 and Reuters cites more than 23,000.

The city also criticizes a feature called "spicy mode." According to NBC News, the lawsuit says this function allows people to digitally remove clothing from photos of public figures, private citizens, and children, then place their images into violent or sexually degrading scenes.

The lawsuit also points to a social media post from December 31, 2025, where Musk shared an AI-generated image of himself at age 54 in a blue string bikini. Baltimore’s lawyers say this post publicly encouraged users to create exposing pictures of actual people.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott stressed how harmful these deepfakes are. In media statements, he said they cause lasting trauma for victims and pose a serious threat to privacy, safety, and dignity. He added that those responsible should be held accountable.

Baltimore is asking the court for the highest possible financial penalties and other fines. City officials also want a court order requiring the company to change its advertising, redesign its platform, and stop taking advantage of local residents.

This lawsuit comes as the company faces global scrutiny. Reuters says xAI is under investigation in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia, which led it to limit some image generation features in mid-January. At that time, Musk said he had no knowledge of the software creating nude images of minors.

The Guardian also reports on a separate class-action lawsuit filed in March by three teenagers in Tennessee. They say an outside app used xAI’s technology to create and share nude images of them. xAI and its related companies did not immediately respond to media questions about the case.