UK MP sues Elon Musk’s xAI over fake bikini images
Jess Asato, the MP for Lowestoft in Suffolk, said the legal action was filed at the High Court on Wednesday.
A Labour MP has taken Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, to court after its Grok chatbot was allegedly used to generate fake sexualised images of her.
Jess Asato, the MP for Lowestoft in Suffolk, said the legal action was filed at the High Court on Wednesday.
She is seeking damages, but says the case is also about establishing whether AI companies can be held responsible for the design of systems that allow such content to be created.
Ms Asato previously said she felt violated after an image of her was manipulated to show her in a bikini.
The incident happened during a wider backlash earlier this year over claims that Grok was being used to create false sexualised images of real people.
Ms Asato said she was targeted in January after speaking publicly about the issue.
She later raised the matter in the House of Commons, where she spoke about the use of the chatbot to generate fake images of her.
Following the controversy, xAI said users would no longer be able to use Grok to create sexualised images of real people.
Ms Asato, however, argues that fixing the system later does not erase the harm already caused.
She compared the situation to a faulty product, saying that if a car is made with a defect, the manufacturer may still be accountable even if the fault is later corrected.
Her case has been brought under the Data Protection Act and for alleged misuse of private information.
Her lawyer, Ravi Naik of AWO, said the claim is intended to test liability for the design of AI systems.
He argued that the images were able to exist because of choices made by xAI engineers, and that safety should not be treated as an afterthought.
The case comes after the UK made it illegal to create or request non-consensual deepfake images of adults.
xAI has been contacted for comment.
X, also owned by Elon Musk, has previously said it would act against illegal content on its platform.
Mr Musk has also said anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as someone uploading illegal material.
