Labour MP Jess Asato is taking authorized motion towards Elon Musk’s xAI after its Grok chatbot was used to non-consensually fabricate sexualised pictures of her, marking the primary ever English regulation declare towards the technology of deepfakes.
In a declare submitted to the Excessive Court docket in London in the beginning of June 2026, Asato alleged that xAI – now a subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX, which additionally owns X (previously Twitter) – breached UK information safety regulation and guidelines across the misuse of personal info in permitting customers of the positioning to create non-consensual deepfake pictures and movies of her.
Asato’s declare will search damages from xAI and try and set a precedent that know-how firms be held answerable for their design decisions and the harms of the programs they create.
“Grok created deepfake pornography and sexualised content material which harmed hundreds of girls and kids,” she stated. “Its skill shouldn’t be an accident, nor misuse, it’s a design selection by its creators. In launching this case, I’m pursuing accountability for these decisions.
“I hope this authorized motion additionally provides voice to the hundreds of victims within the UK, ladies, ladies and horrifically even youngsters who had been abused by Grok. I’m calling on anybody within the UK who skilled the misuse of their picture or video by Grok to come back ahead and help our authorized declare.”
Ravi Naik, the authorized director of authorized agency AWO who’s representing Asato, added that, “at its coronary heart, this case is a few single precept – that AI builders should reply for the way in which they design their instruments…Nobody ought to be subjected to abuse like this, and nobody ought to must instruct a lawyer to get pictures like these taken down.”
He added whereas the agency has already secured the elimination of the offending pictures, it’s now looking for redress and accountability for Asato. “This content material existed due to design decisions made by xAI, and know-how of this type doesn’t merely occur – it’s constructed and it’s constructed intentionally,” stated Naik.
“Grok was designed in a manner that permitted the creation of non-consensual, sexualised and misogynistic pictures of girls – and that final result was a selection, not a glitch. This is likely one of the first claims to check legal responsibility for the design of an AI system, and we hope it should make it clear to AI builders that security can’t be an afterthought.”
Asato’s case has since been backed by greater than 100 campaigners and organisations – together with Girls’s Help, Refuge, Rape Disaster England & Wales, the Fawcett Society, the Psychological Well being Basis and the Molly Rose Basis – which have revealed a joint assertion backing the MP.
“We hope that this will probably be a primary step in direction of accountability for these accountable and that it’s going to open a path to redress for the various, many different victims who’ve suffered,” they stated. “Researchers discovered that in an 11-day interval – from the beginning of December twenty ninth 2025 to the tip of January eighth 2026 – Grok generated an estimated 3 million non-consensual sexualised pictures of girls and kids, which had been broadly disseminated on X, inflicting untold hurt.
Know-how of this type doesn’t merely occur – it’s constructed and it’s constructed intentionally Ravi Naik, AWO
“To this point, there was no justice for any of the victims. We consider that xAI have to be held legally accountable to make sure that no AI instrument or social media platform can ever repeat such terrible harms towards ladies, youngsters or anybody.”
The UK authorities beforehand condemned X in January 2026 after Grok was used to provide huge portions of sexualised pictures primarily based on actual ladies, and in some circumstances youngsters, with senior politicians claiming the corporate “shouldn’t be doing sufficient to maintain its clients secure on-line”.
The media regulator, Ofcom, then launched a proper inquiry the identical month, saying it will work to determine whether or not X has did not adjust to its authorized obligations below the On-line Security Act.
Among the many areas of investigation is an evaluation of the danger of individuals within the UK seeing content material that’s unlawful within the UK, and whether or not X is taking acceptable steps to stop folks within the UK from seeing “precedence” unlawful content material equivalent to non-consensual intimate pictures. The investigation can even take a look at how shortly X takes down unlawful content material when it’s made conscious of it, and the way it’s defending customers from a breach of privateness legal guidelines.
With reference to defending youngsters, Ofcom stated the investigation can even assess the danger the Grok AI service poses to UK youngsters, and the effectiveness of X to make use of age assurance to guard UK youngsters from seeing pornography.
In a publish on X from 9 January 2026, Musk stated the UK desires “any excuse for censorship”.
Pc Weekly contacted xAI about Asato’s authorized motion, in addition to Ofcom’s investigation, however obtained no response.
Emma Pickering, head of technology-facilitated abuse and financial empowerment at Refuge, the charity which supplies specialist help for ladies and kids experiencing home violence, beforehand known as for tech firms to be held accountable for implementing efficient safeguards and stopping perpetrators from inflicting hurt.
“Laws to criminalise creating, or requesting the creation of, non-consensual deepfake intimate pictures has progressed by means of Parliament, however we’re nonetheless ready for the regulation to come back into impact,” she stated.
Whereas the sharing of actual and artificial intimate pictures with out consent is prohibited within the UK, she identified that in follow, the regulation shouldn’t be being successfully enforced, with woefully low conviction charges.
