xAI seeks to force deepfake victims to reveal their identities in federal lawsuit

xAI filed two motions in mid-May asking a US District Court judge in northern California to overturn an order allowing four pseudonymous plaintiffs to proceed under pseudonyms (South Carolina Doe, South Carolina Roe, New Jersey Doe, and Ohio Doe) in a class-action lawsuit filed over alleged deepfake sexualized images created using Grok.

The plaintiffs say they fear doxing, online harassment, and retaliation if forced to use their real names publicly; one alleges Grok was used to create explicit images of them as a child. xAI's lawyers argue there is public interest in identifying those suing the company and that keeping deepfake images under seal reduces privacy concerns.

According to analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Grok was used to create around 3 million sexualized images over just 11 days in January, with 23,000 of those potentially including children. SpaceX, which now owns xAI, has set aside more than $500 million to deal with the fallout.