Key Takeaways
- Asato has asked the High Court to order xAI to introduce “effective and permanent technical measures” preventing Grok from creating sexualised images of her, Reuters reported on 28 July.
- The request builds on a claim filed in June alleging misuse of private information and breaches of UK data protection law.
- Court papers say Grok’s internal instructions gave it wide latitude over adult content, which Asato’s lawyers argue enabled the abuse.
- xAI has since barred Grok from generating sexualised images of real people, though several flagged posts reportedly remained live in late July.
Jess Asato, a member of the UK Parliament, has escalated her legal fight against Elon Musk’s xAI, asking London’s High Court to permanently stop Grok generating explicit images of her.
The Lowestoft MP became a target in January after publicly condemning a “bikinification” trend in which users prompted Grok to strip clothing from photographs of individuals without consent. Her claim, filed in June and sharpened this week according to Reuters, argues that xAI’s design choices, not merely user misuse, made the abuse possible.
The lawsuit adds to growing UK scrutiny of Musk’s platforms after X agreed with Ofcom to block accounts linked to proscribed organisations.
How the Case Against xAI Began
Days after Asato criticised Musk and Grok on X, users began prompting the chatbot to generate fake images and videos of her, as Reuters reported.
She reported the posts, but her lawyers say X initially found no breach of its rules, and that several of the original 21 flagged posts were still online months later.
Asato subsequently filed proceedings at the High Court, represented by the law firm AWO, alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data protection law.
Her lawyers are now pressing for a court order requiring xAI to overhaul how Grok is built, rather than simply removing individual images after the fact, arguing that damages alone would not stop the abuse recurring.
What Asato’s Lawyers Say Grok Was Told
Particulars of claim published this week, reported by The Guardian, cite internal instructions allegedly given to Grok stating it had “no restrictions on adult content or offensive content,” while separately telling it not to assist users engaged in obvious unethical activity.
Asato’s team argues this combination let the chatbot generate degrading content unprompted, adding explicit elements users had never requested.
Durham University law professor Clare McGlynn, cited in the same reporting, described this as one of the most significant aspects of the case.
AWO’s legal director, Ravi Naik, said the litigation aims to establish that an AI firm’s design choices, not just how its tools are misused, should carry legal weight.
This push for systemic accountability comes as Ofcom criticized major platforms’ algorithms for failing children, a shift that ultimately led to the UK’s social media ban for under-16s.
A Test Case for AI Accountability in Britain
The claim lands as it becomes a criminal offence in England and Wales to create or request non-consensual deepfake images of an adult, amid growing UK scrutiny of how tech platforms handle harmful AI content, echoed in Ofcom’s device-scanning demands aimed at child safety.
Asato is seeking damages, a formal finding that xAI acted unlawfully, and an injunction compelling lasting safeguards; no hearing date has yet been set.
The case also arrives alongside the UK Government funding its own £1.1 billion sovereign AI infrastructure programme, leaving ministers balancing AI investment against calls for tighter accountability.
Source: UK lawmaker suing Musk’s xAI seeks order to stop Grok
