Baltimore sues Elon Musk’s Grok AI over fake nude images. The mayor and city council of Baltimore, Maryland, filed a lawsuit against Musk’s AI company on Tuesday, March 24. They alleged that Grok generated nonconsensual s**ualized images, violating ethics. Baltimore’s lawsuit alleges that Grok, which is marketed as a harmless AI tool for regular use, has failed to disclose the potential harm the tool can cause to users.
Baltimore city sues Elon Musk’s Grok AI over explicit image generation
Baltimore City files a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s Grok AI over explicit image generation. The lawsuit is filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Notably, the company advertises and operates in Baltimore. The official complaint states, “Grok has flooded the feeds of Baltimore’s X users with NCII (non-consensual intimate imagery) and CSAM (child s**ual abuse material).”
Furthermore, it states, “Grok further exposed Baltimore residents to the risk that any photograph they uploaded – of themselves or of their children – could be ingested by Grok and transformed into s**ually degrading deepfakes without their knowledge or consent” (via The Guardian).
Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott shared, “We’re talking about tech companies enabling the s**ual exploitation of children. Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it’s a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
This is a unique, one-of-a-kind case. Unlike previous lawsuits filed by individuals, in this case, a city has sued Musk’s Grok AI.
Musk’s Grok AI has failed multiple lawsuits and international investigations for generating non-consensual, AI-generated s**ualized images on the internet. The victims mainly included women and minors. According to researchers, Grok generated a whopping 23,000 s**ualized images of children over an 11-day period in December and January (via Center for Countering Digital Hate).
Interestingly, the Tesla founder denied any knowledge of his AI tool Grok being used to produce non-consensual, explicit photos. He shared in January that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.”
As a countermeasure, Musk’s company imposed restrictions on Grok’s image generation to prevent further damage. This came after they received severe backlash and threats of regulatory action from multiple countries.
