Baltimore is first U.S. city to sue over Grok deepfake porn as legal pressure mounts on xAI

Baltimore has made headlines as the first major U.S. city to file a lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI, addressing serious concerns about the company's Grok image generator. Mayor Brandon Scott expressed deep concern in an email to CNBC, stating that the deepfakes produced by Grok can have 'traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims.' He emphasized that tech companies must not enable the sexual exploitation of children, asserting, 'Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it's a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety.' This lawsuit adds to the mounting legal challenges faced by xAI, especially after its recent merger with SpaceX. The company is under scrutiny in multiple countries due to Grok's capability to generate deepfake pornographic content using images of non-consenting individuals, including women and minors. Last week, attorneys for three Tennessee teenagers filed a class action lawsuit against xAI, claiming that Grok produced sexualized and degrading images involving them. In its complaint, filed on March 24 in circuit court, Baltimore's mayor and city council accused xAI of breaching local consumer protection laws and engaging in deceptive practices. They criticized the marketing of Grok and X, previously known as Twitter, as safe for users. The lawsuit highlights a concerning trend that prompted users to manipulate photos to create revealing images, which Musk himself appeared to endorse by posting an image of himself in a string bikini generated by Grok. The complaint argues that Musk's actions acted as a public endorsement for Grok's capability to create sexualized edits, indicating to users that such use was not only acceptable but encouraged. Baltimore is seeking the maximum statutory penalties available, alongside injunctive relief to compel changes to X and Grok to prevent the production of non-consensual intimate images (NCII) and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The city aims to have the court mandate xAI to stop exploiting Baltimore’s residents and to reform its platform design and marketing strategies. As the situation unfolds, executives at SpaceX and xAI have yet to respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, a report from the Internet Watch Foundation highlighted that girls continue to be disproportionately targeted by CSAM, accounting for 97% of illegal AI-generated sexualized images assessed in 2025.