{"id":5973,"date":"2026-08-01T04:13:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5973"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:13:55","slug":"san-jose-judge-blocks-xai-bid-to-name-grok-deepfake-plaintiffs-citing-threat-of-more-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5973","title":{"rendered":"San Jose judge blocks xAI bid to name Grok deepfake plaintiffs, citing threat of more abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A federal judge in San Jose has rejected an attempt by Elon Musk\u2019s artificial intelligence company xAI to publicly identify the\u00a0 four people suing the company over sexualized deepfakes allegedly created by its Grok chatbot, ruling that revealing their names could expose them to further harassment and fabricated images.<\/p>\n

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Judge Casey Pitts said Thursday that the three women and one man had shown anonymity was warranted because of the \u201csensitive and highly personal claims\u201d in the case and the threat of retaliation against people who challenge the creation and distribution of deepfakes.<\/p>\n

Publicly identifying them could cause \u201csevere\u201d harm, Pitts wrote, including emotional distress and damage to their reputations and employment if additional sexualized images were created and shared.<\/p>\n

The ruling came over the objections of xAI, which argued that allowing the plaintiffs to remain anonymous would impede its ability to find witnesses and violate the public\u2019s right of access to court proceedings.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status on behalf of what their lawsuit claims are hundreds of people whose photographs Grok altered to depict them nude, in sexual positions or in explicit videos. One plaintiff alleges the chatbot generated an image suggesting she had sex with her father.<\/p>\n

Grok, which is built into the social media platform X and available as a standalone app, can generate \u201cdeepfakes\u201d \u2014 seemingly realistic but fabricated photos or videos \u2014 in response to users\u2019 prompts.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in January in San Jose U.S. District Court, claims Grok \u201chumiliates and sexually exploits women, girls, and others by altering real photos of them so that they are undressed and\/or posed in sexual positions or featured in explicit videos.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also alleges Grok produced \u201cillegal child sex abuse material.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In May, xAI asked the court to reverse an earlier ruling allowing the plaintiffs to remain anonymous while the case proceeds. The company argued that there was \u201cnothing inherently stigmatizing to (the plaintiffs) about the fact that a third party created an undisclosed deepfake image of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company also disputed what it called \u201cspeculative allegations of potential future harm caused by the further dissemination of deepfake images online.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitts rejected those arguments Thursday, noting that the lawsuit alleges \u201cindividuals who have opposed the creation and distribution of deepfakes are commonly subject to vicious campaigns of harassment and intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n

If their anonymity were lifted, the plaintiffs \u201cwould be vulnerable to the creation and distribution of further deepfakes in retaliation\u201d for filing their lawsuit, Pitts wrote.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

One plaintiff, identified as \u201cSouth Carolina Roe,\u201d alleges in the lawsuit that a police officer awakened her at the home she shared with her parents in February and told her that her father faced criminal charges over the alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Carolina Roe has learned that Grok altered several images depicting South Carolina Roe in a bed with her father,\u201d the lawsuit claims. \u201cGrok altered the images to make it appear as if they had just consummated a sexual act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit suggests the potential criminal charges against South Carolina Roe\u2019s father were related to the alleged deepfake, but does not make clear what the outcome was of any police investigation.<\/p>\n

Additional deepfakes of the woman may have been generated by Grok, but South Carolina Roe has \u201cyet to find out about them because they are subject to an ongoing criminal investigation,\u201d the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n

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Another plaintiff, \u201cSouth Carolina Doe,\u201d posted a photograph of herself fully clothed on X on Jan. 2, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The next morning, she discovered that Grok had used the photograph to create and publicly post an image depicting her in a revealing bikini, the lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was shocked and embarrassed by the deepfake, and it caused her to panic as she was overwhelmed with thoughts of who would see the deepfake and think that she had taken the image herself,\u201d the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n

She worried that her employer or co-workers could see the image and that it could damage her career, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was overcome with disgust at the thought of what the X user who had asked Grok to create the deepfake of her was doing with the photo,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

South Carolina Doe began reporting the image to X almost immediately, but the company initially refused to remove it, the lawsuit alleges. She also complained directly to Grok through X.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrok denied creating the deepfake, denied posting any images since January 1, 2026, and claimed it did not have image generation or editing capabilities,\u201d the lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n

X removed the image three days later, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The male plaintiff, identified as \u201cNew Jersey Doe,\u201d alleges that Grok altered a shirtless photograph he had posted while wearing pants, creating and publishing versions that depicted him in a jockstrap and a thong. X refused his requests to remove the images, the lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n

The fourth plaintiff, \u201cOhio Doe,\u201d alleges that Grok altered a photograph of her fully dressed to depict her wearing a bikini made from plastic wrap and, in one image, kissing a man.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took months,\u201d the lawsuit said, \u201cfor the deepfakes to be taken down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rollout of Grok\u2019s \u201cedit image\u201d function in December prompted widespread reports that people were using the chatbot to create child sexual abuse material. That led to international backlash, lawsuits and investigations, including one by the State of California. State officials did not immediately respond Friday to questions about the investigation\u2019s status.<\/p>\n

xAI did not respond Friday to requests for comment and has not filed a response directly addressing the lawsuit\u2019s allegations. Musk is not named as a defendant, but the lawsuit claims he and xAI \u201chave chosen to capitalize on predators\u2019 insatiable appetite for non-consensual sexual images and videos of real people, including children.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate lawsuit filed July 27, xAI challenged Minnesota\u2019s ban on apps and websites used to digitally undress people, arguing that the law is overly broad and unfairly penalizes companies. xAI said in that lawsuit that its terms of service and usage policies prohibit using Grok to undress people or depict them sexually.<\/p>\n

Last month, xAI sued a Texas man after his arrest on suspicion of sexually exploiting a minor. The company alleged that the man used Grok to create child sexual abuse material.<\/p>\n

Read more Guilty plea, witness list reveal prosecutors\u2019 case against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Central to the case is the ability of AI chatbots to create deepfakes — seemingly realistic but phony photos or video in response to a user’s prompt, which can include text, photos and video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nSan Jose judge blocks xAI bid to name Grok deepfake plaintiffs, citing threat of more abuse - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5973\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Jose judge blocks xAI bid to name Grok deepfake plaintiffs, citing threat of more abuse - 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