NEED TO KNOW
- Ashley St. Clair is suing Elon Musk’s xAI over Grok’s generated sexually explicit images of her
- St. Clair is the mother of Musk’s 14th child
- The lawsuit, filed in New York state on Thursday, Jan. 15, comes amid an ongoing custody battle over their son, Romulus
Ashley St. Clair, the mother of Elon Musk’s 14th child, is suing his AI company, xAI, over Grok’s generated sexually explicit images.
St. Clair, a conservative influencer, filed a lawsuit against the platform, alleging that it generated and circulated sexual deepfake images of her across X in a new lawsuit filed in New York State Superior Court on Thursday, Jan. 15.
“Defendant xAI, a tech giant with every tool and advantage at its disposal, has chosen to willfully turn a blind eye and even celebrate the sexual exploitation of women and children,” the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE reads.
“xAI’s product Grok, a generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) chatbot, uses AI to undress, humiliate, and sexually exploit victims – creating genuine looking, altered deepfake content of children,” the lawsuit claims.
St. Clair claimed that the generative AI technology created sexually explicit images of her as a child and adult, and she reported them to X and requested their removal. “Grok first promised Ms. St. Clair that it would refrain from manufacturing more images unclothing her,” the lawsuit reads, alleging that Musk, however, “retaliated against” her, demonetizing her X account and generating “multitudes” more images of her, including “unlawful images” of an explicit nature.
“xAI is not a reasonably safe product and is a public nuisance,” St. Clair’s attorney Carrie Goldberg said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Nobody has born the brunt more than Ashley St.Clair. Ashley filed suit because Grok was harassing her by creating and distributing nonconsensual, abusive, and degrading images of her and publishing them on X.”
Goldberg continued, “This harm flowed directly from deliberate design choices that enabled Grok to be used as a tool of harassment and humiliation. Companies should not be able to escape responsibility when the products they build predictably cause this kind of harm. We intend to hold Grok accountable and to help establish clear legal boundaries for the entire public’s benefit to prevent AI from being weaponized for abuse.”
The lawsuit comes amid the ongoing custody battle over the couple’s son, Romulus, who was born in 2024.
PEOPLE reached out to a representative for xAI for comment.
The Tesla CEO, 54, and the influencer first connected on X, and grew closer during a work assignment in San Francisco shortly after, she told the New York Post in February 2025. On Feb. 14, 2025, St. Clair announced on X that she and Musk share a son, and later confirmed his name to be Romulus.
“Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father,” the announcement read. “I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause.”
She added, “I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment.”
St. Clair then promptly sued Musk for sole legal custody of Romulus. In January 2026, Musk revealed his plans to file for full custody of Romulus after St. Clair changed her views to support the transgender community.
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Over the weekend, St Clair responded to a user on X who asked her to address her “blatant transphobia” in the past.
“I feel immense guilt for my role. And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son’s sister more pain,” she wrote, seemingly referring to Musk’s daughter Vivian, who is transgender.
On Jan. 12, Musk referenced her remarks when stating he would be “filing for full custody” of his youngest child.
“I will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy,” Musk wrote on X, replying to another user who implied the billionaire mogul should file for full custody after St. Clair changed her views to support the transgender community.
Despite Musk’s claim, it’s not clear if St. Clair ever said she planned to have their son transition.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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