By DAVE COLLINS
Updated at 4:01 PM PST, January 16, 2026
The mother of Elon Musk’s child has filed a lawsuit against his AI company, claiming that its Grok chatbot facilitated the creation of sexually exploitative deepfake images of her, inflicting humiliation and emotional distress.
Ashley St. Clair, 27, a writer and political strategist, alleges in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images include an altered photo of her at age 14 in a bikini, alongside other manipulations depicting her as an adult in sexualized poses and wearing a bikini adorned with swastikas. St. Clair is Jewish, and Grok is integrated into Musk’s X platform.
Representatives for xAI did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment on Friday. Following public outcry over inappropriate images of women and children, X announced on Wednesday that Grok would no longer be permitted to edit photos of real individuals into revealing attire where such alterations are illegal.
In response to questions regarding the lawsuit, xAI offered only the assertion “Legacy Media Lies” in an email to The Associated Press.
St. Clair stated she reported the deepfakes to X after they emerged last year and requested their removal. Initially, she was informed that the images did not violate platform policies. Later, X promised it would prevent any alterations of her likeness without her consent, she recounted.
However, she claims the platform retaliated by rescinding her premium X subscription and verification checkmark, thereby hindering her ability to monetize her account, which has 1 million followers, while continuing to allow the circulation of degrading fake images of her.
“I have experienced severe pain and mental distress due to xAI’s involvement in creating and distributing these manipulated images of me,” she stated in a document included in the lawsuit. “I am humiliated and feel trapped in this nightmare as long as Grok continues to produce these images.”
St. Clair expressed her fear about how those who view the deepfakes perceive her.
She is the mother of Musk’s 16-month-old son, Romulus, and resides in New York City, where she filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court. She seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress and other claims, along with court orders to prohibit xAI from generating additional deepfakes of her.
Lawsuits were later transferred to federal court in Manhattan by xAI, which requested the case be heard there. They also countersued St. Clair in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleging she breached the terms of her user agreement with xAI, which mandates legal disputes be resolved in federal court in Texas. They are seeking an undisclosed monetary award.
X is headquartered in Texas, where Musk owns a residence and where his electric vehicle company, Tesla, is based in Austin.
Carrie Goldberg, representing St. Clair, described the countersuit as an unusual move not commonly seen from a defendant.
“Ms. St. Clair will vigorously defend her choice of venue in New York,” Goldberg stated. “But in truth, any court will acknowledge the essence of her claims — that by producing non-consensual sexually explicit images of women and girls, xAI poses a public nuisance and represents an unreasonably dangerous product.”
In its Wednesday announcement, X mentioned implementing additional measures for Grok, including restricting image creation and editing to paid accounts for better accountability. The platform stated its zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content, vowing to remove such content immediately and report accounts involved in child exploitation to law enforcement.
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