Baltimore has sued X Corp., xAI, and SpaceX, accusing the companies of violating consumer protection laws by creating and deploying Grok, an AI system linked to generating non-consensual sexualized images, including those depicting minors.
The lawsuit claims Grok enables users to 'undress' or manipulate images of real people with minimal prompting, leading to privacy violations and psychological harm. The city seeks civil penalties, restitution, and court orders to stop the alleged misconduct.
Experts suggest the case may hinge on whether courts see AI systems as active creators of harmful content rather than passive tools.
Grok generated between 1.8 million and 3 million sexualized images in days, according to estimates. The surge followed Elon Musk's public praise of the AI's image-editing feature.
Baltimore alleges the companies knew of the risks but failed to act, citing their own policies that ban such content.