Baltimore Files Lawsuit Against Musk's xAI Over Sexual Deepfakes

Baltimore is taking Elon Musk's AI company xAI to court — and Grok is at the center of it all. The city filed a lawsuit claiming that xAI's chatbot, Grok, has been used to create nonconsensual, sexually explicit images — including ones featuring minors — in violation of consumer protection laws.

The complaint says that just by using X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), people could be exposed to this kind of content. Even worse, regular photos could be turned into degrading deepfakes without anyone's knowledge or permission.

Baltimore officials argue this completely contradicts how Grok and X have been marketed as safe platforms. "Baltimore residents have a reasonable expectation that they will not be exposed to this illegal content," the lawsuit states.

A big part of the case centers on Grok's so-called "spicy mode" — a feature that lets users generate images that undress or sexually exploit real people, including minors, often in explicit, degrading, or violent scenarios.

The numbers in the filing are alarming. Data from the Center for Countering Digital Hate suggests Grok churned out around 3 million sexualized images in just ten days, roughly 20,000 of which involved minors. The lawsuit also highlights specific cases, including one woman who says Grok generated fully nude images of her without her consent. On top of that, the complaint alleges Musk made things worse by hyping up the trend on social media.

X has since put some restrictions in place around Grok's image generation, but Baltimore says the tools are still available in other parts of the platform, as well as through its standalone site and app.

"These deepfakes, especially those depicting minors, have traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims," said Mayor Brandon Scott. "Our city will not stand by — this is a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety."

The city is pushing for maximum financial penalties and wants xAI to stop these practices and overhaul its platform. Baltimore isn't alone in this fight either — a group of teens in Tennessee has filed a similar suit, and regulators in the EU, California, and Congress have all launched their own investigations into Grok.