Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has initiated a lawsuit against a South Carolina man, accusing him of exploiting its AI chatbot Grok to generate sexually explicit deepfake images, including material involving minors.
The civil complaint, filed in a federal court in Texas, names Terry Harwood, who was arrested earlier this year on allegations related to the sexual exploitation of minors. According to xAI, Harwood violated the platform’s terms of service by attempting to use Grok for illegal and abusive purposes.
The case is believed to be among the first instances of an AI developer pursuing legal action directly against a user over the alleged misuse of a generative AI system to create explicit content.
In its filing, xAI stated that it actively monitors and enforces its policies against abusive use of its technology. The company said it responds to violations through account suspensions, permanent bans and by reporting suspected child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
According to the lawsuit, xAI has suspended more than 52,000 user accounts in 2026 and submitted over 73,000 reports to NCMEC during the same period. The company claims those reports have contributed to at least 244 arrests.
The complaint alleges that Harwood uploaded ordinary photographs of both adults and minors into Grok and attempted to transform them into sexually explicit deepfake images. It further claims he generated non-consensual sexualized images involving adults as well.
xAI is seeking monetary damages, though the amount has not been specified. It has also asked the court to permanently prohibit Harwood from accessing or using Grok in the future.
In the lawsuit, the company argues that the alleged conduct amounted to a deliberate misuse of its AI technology for criminal purposes, causing severe harm to victims while exposing xAI to significant legal and reputational consequences.
The legal action comes at a time when AI-generated deepfakes remain under increasing international scrutiny, with technology companies facing mounting pressure to strengthen safeguards against the creation and spread of non-consensual explicit content.
