Baltimore Sues X Over Alleged Distribution of Sexual Deepfake Content by Grok AI

JAKARTA - The Baltimore City Government has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's companies including X Corp., xAI, and SpaceX, regarding the alleged misuse of its artificial intelligence (AI) tools, which produce sexual deepfake content without consent.

Filed in the Baltimore Circuit Court on March 24, the lawsuit states that Grok, which allows users to generate and manipulate images of real people into sexually explicit, degrading, or otherwise harmful content.

This feature can even be used to digitally "undress" or sexualize individuals, including civilians and children.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said the impact of this type of deepfake is so serious that it makes Baltimore residents vulnerable to serious privacy violations, harassment, and psychological harm.

"We're talking about a tech company that enables the sexual exploitation of children. Our city will not stand by and let this continue, this is a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable," Scott said in a statement.

In addition, the city assessed that the defendants misled the public by marketing Grok as a safe and versatile AI assistant, without revealing the potential for misuse to generate explicit content.

Although there are public claims that such content is prohibited, in practice the system is said to be able to produce similar material with a few commands from the user.

"Baltimore's consumer protection laws are there to protect residents from this type of new danger," said City Attorney Ebony M. Thompson.

He emphasized that the government has an obligation to protect citizens from the impact of risky new technologies. He called the lack of restrictions, age verification, and content control a serious form of negligence.

In the lawsuit document, it is stated that Grok's design and integration with major social media platforms have accelerated the massive spread of harmful content.

It is estimated that millions of sexual images are produced in just a few days, including thousands involving minors.

The Baltimore City Government also accused the company of profiting from the high-risk feature, including by putting it behind a paid subscription scheme after widespread abuse occurred.

Through this lawsuit, Baltimore is seeking civil penalties, cessation of practices deemed to be in violation of the law, compensation for victims, and the return of illegally obtained profits.