UK Labour MP Jess Asato sues xAI over explicit AI-generated images

UK Labour MP Jess Asato is suing xAI over sexually explicit AI-generated images that were created of her by Grok, The Financial Times reports. The lawsuit is the first high-profile test of whether AI companies can be held responsible for content people produce with their tools in the UK.

Grok users started producing and sharing images of Asato in January, right around when it was first reported that the AI assistant had been used to create CSAM. Asato alleges users prompted Grok to produce images of her in a bikini, along with an explicit video "showing her being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault," FT writes. Users later reshard, discussed and produced more AI images on X, the social platform owned by xAI.

Asato's lawsuit claims that xAI violated laws around the misuse of private information and data protection, opening it up to liability even though individual users were the ones to use Grok. She's seeking financial damages and an order that will force xAI to follow UK law. "My hope is that this will rebalance individuals' rights against very large tech companies that should have put safeguards in place before they harmed women and children," Asato said to FT.

xAI claimed it put limits on Grok's ability to produce sexually explicit images in January, but those blocks were fairly easily circumvented when put to the test. The negative response to Grok's capacity to produce nonconsensual deepfakes has been widespread. Besides being under investigation in the EU, UK and California, xAI or X are also being sued by the city of Baltimore, Maryland, a group of teens and Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children.