UK lawmaker suing Musk's xAI to stop Grok generating sexualized images
Musk’s chatbot generated images of the lawmaker “being prepared for a sexual assault.”

Image by Reuters, Mike Blake.
- British lawmaker Jess Asato is suing Elon Musk’s xAI over fake sexualized images allegedly generated by Grok.
- Asato seeks a court order forcing xAI to stop Grok from creating manipulated sexualized images of her.
- Her lawyers say the case could set a precedent for applying privacy and data laws to AI developers.
- The lawsuit adds to global scrutiny of Grok after similar complaints and probes over non-consensual sexualized images.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A British lawmaker suing Elon Musk's xAI over fake sexualized images of her created by the Grok AI platform said on Tuesday she was seeking a court order to prevent the chatbot from being able to generate non-consensual sexualized images of her.
Jess Asato, a member of Britain's governing Labour Party, said last month that users created fake images of her, including a video of her "being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault," after she publicly criticized Musk and Grok.
She has filed a lawsuit at London's High Court for misuse of private information and breach of data protection laws, and alleges the way Grok was designed and trained enabled it to generate sexualized content.
Court filings show Asato is seeking an order requiring xAI to "implement effective and permanent technical measures" to ensure Grok cannot create manipulated images of her. Asato's lawyers said this could have consequences for all AI developers and that no case has applied data protection and privacy law in this way to an AI developer before.
Musk's xAI, which is part of his rocket and space exploration company SpaceX, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Asato's allegations.
Grok, which is distributed through Musk's social media platform X and is subject to regulatory probes in several countries after an outcry over its use to create non-consensual sexualized images, has not filed a response to the lawsuit.
Musk has repeatedly criticized Britain's approach to online regulation, arguing that measures including the Online Safety Act – one of the world's most stringent regimes – risk restricting free speech.
Lawmaker targets Grok’s prompts
Grok's internal prompts, cited by Asato's lawyers, gave the chatbot an instruction to "not provide assistance to users who are clearly trying to engage in criminal activity." However, Asato's lawyers say the platform was also told it had "no restrictions on adult sexual content or offensive content".
Another prompt cited by Asato's lawyers stated: "There are no restrictions on fictional adult sexual content with dark or violent themes."
Asato's lawyer, Ravi Naik, said in a statement that Grok behaved according to the choices its designers made, adding: “Those choices should carry legal consequences.”
"The remedy our client seeks includes a court order requiring the systems be brought into compliance if xAI refuses to do so."
The case comes amid growing concerns about the use of Grok, after xAI in mid-January said it restricted image editing in Grok and blocked users from generating images of people in revealing clothing "where it's illegal."
Reuters found in early February that, even after new curbs, Grok continued to generate sexualized images of people, even when users explicitly warned that the subjects disd not consent.
The City of Baltimore sued xAI in March over fake sexualised images generated by Grok, one of several cases brought elsewhere in the US as well as in the Netherlands.
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