Lawsuit: Man used Grok to make 7K sex images of stepdaughter, then shot himself

Two days after the man was released on bail, he shot himself, the complaint said, throwing the young girl—known as Jane Doe 4 in the complaint—into “a period of extreme personal crisis.” Among harms, she now suffers from anxiety and depression, as well as “struggles with suicidal thoughts.” “Overnight, Jane Doe 4’s entire reality was shattered by the dual tragedies of child sexual exploitation and suicide,” the lawsuit alleged. “Her family was torn apart, and her life became a nightmare.” In a press release, the girls’ legal teams at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and Baehr-Jones Law said that Jane Doe 4’s case is not an outlier. They noted that NCMEC found in early 2026 that 90 percent of xAI’s CyberTipline reports “were not actionable by law enforcement because xAI declined to include user information that would allow law enforcement to track and locate perpetrators.” As the lawyers explained: “Jane Doe 4’s case shows how that pattern played out: xAI’s mandatory report to NCMEC included only the original, non-CSAM photograph, omitted every one of the AI-generated CSAM images, and failed to include the IP address where these images were created. Despite repeated requests from investigators for this location information that is critical for identifying and arresting perpetrators, xAI did not respond, stymieing the investigation for weeks.” Allegedly, xAI avoids sharing this information to prioritize profits over child safety. In the press release, Jane Doe 4 accused X of going “silent” after Grok turned “a photo of me as a little girl sleeping on the couch, wearing an oversized panda pajama shirt” into “thousands of sexually explicit images of me—images so horrific I can’t even begin to describe them.” “They had everything they needed to help law enforcement stop the person responsible and achieve justice. Instead, they remained silent and allowed this person to use Grok to steal my childhood,” Jane Doe 4 said. “This technology is a free, easily accessible weapon put into the hands of the worst people in the world. What is so dangerous is there is no way to prevent a predator from taking any photograph—not just a photograph on the internet—but any photo of a child and using this technology to create images from your worst nightmares. No one is safe—not adults, not children, not anyone.” Another girl who came forward on Tuesday, Jane Doe 5, was also targeted by a known acquaintance, an adult family friend who similarly trafficked alleged Grok-generated images online. That girl was only notified after cops arrested the perpetrator and charged him with “extensive possession and distribution of CSAM content,” which was “limited to non-AI generated CSAM,” the complaint said. Her mother blames xAI for Jane Doe 5’s abuse, saying that because of Grok, “my daughter is filled with anxiety and feels a complete lack of control over who has seen these images. No child should ever have to go through this.” xAI founder Elon Musk has denied that Grok has ever been used to generate child sex images. However, researchers have estimated that Grok’s lax safeguards—which allow users to make “spicy” requests to undress images—have harmed tens of thousands of kids without meaningful intervention. So far, xAI’s only action has been to charge for the feature, which the complaint alleged just ensures that xAI profits from all Grok-generated CSAM. X and xAI did not respond to Ars’ request to comment. The xAI class covers all US persons whose “real images of themselves as minors” were altered using Grok “to produce images or videos of sexually explicit conduct or content with their faces and/or other distinguishing features reasonably identifiable.” And the Stability AI class includes US persons similarly harmed using “an app built upon a Stability AI model.” Lawyers estimate that thousands of minors may be eligible to join the classes and continue to seek out victims harmed by AI CSAM. NCMEC did not respond to Ars’ request to comment. However, the group has called for platforms, lawmakers, child safety organizations, and law enforcement to work together to address the “growing urgency for coordinated action.” In March, NCMEC warned of a “sharp rise” in “reports related to generative AI” (GAI) in 2025. According to NCMEC, more than 1.5 million CyberTipline reports were made last year, “indicating a nexus to GAI and child sexual exploitation.” Troublingly, in more than 133,000 cases, NCMEC “lacked sufficient information to determine how the technology was used.” That report did not call out X or xAI, but it did suggest that it’s likely common for AI firms to avoid sharing information on AI CSAM that cops can use to make arrests. For another example, NCMEC noted that Amazon AI services submitted the vast majority of tips (1.1 million), and none of those tips gave “actionable information” that law enforcement could use to identify perpetrators. As scrutiny on the harm inflicted on children by AI firms intensifies, advocates are hoping that firms will fine-tune models to block all nudity. Girls suing X alleged that’s the only remedy, “because if you have a model that allows for any sexual or abusive content, it is impossible to prevent that model from creating such content involving minors.” In the press release, one of the lawyers representing minors, Annika K. Martin, slammed xAI and Stability AI as allegedly knowingly building models “capable of producing deepfake CSAM,” with “complete disregard for the devastation they knew would follow.” “AI-generated CSAM is a scourge on society that touches every community and every demographic,” Martin said. “The scale of harm is staggering, and the companies whose products enable it must be held accountable.”