Class action suit against AI makers over deepfake child sexual abuse material expands

Technology Class action suit against AI makers over deepfake child sexual abuse material expands July 9, 20261:49 PM ET By  Huo Jingnan In this photo illustration, the Grok website is seen through a magnifying glass on a computer screen on February 12, 2026. Grok is the AI chatbot built by Elon Musk's SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI. A class action lawsuit filed against SpaceXAI and Stability AI alleges the companies' AI tools were used to make sexually explicit images of children. Pablo Vera/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Pablo Vera/AFP via Getty Images New plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk's AI company, SpaceXAI, allege that the company's image-generation models were used to create child sexual abuse material and that the company failed to adequately share information about an alleged perpetrator with authorities. Two plaintiffs, one in Wyoming and the other in Wisconsin, joined the lawsuit filed by three Tennessee teenagers earlier this year, according to an amended complaint filed on Tuesday. All the plaintiffs are referred to as Jane Does. The suit was also expanded to include Stability AI, the company behind the Stable Diffusion image generator, as a defendant. Sponsor Message The suit alleges that the perpetrators, including a plaintiff's male friend and another plaintiff's stepfather, used the companies' AI models to alter photos taken when the plaintiffs were underage to make child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The five plaintiffs accuse the companies of producing CSAM, benefiting from sex trafficking ventures, negligence, defective product design and creating a public nuisance. Technology Tennessee teens sue Elon Musk's xAI over AI-generated child sexual abuse material "Public nuisance means that this is not just something that is problematic for our clients … this is something that is a scourge on society," said Annika Martin, an attorney for all five plaintiffs. "We want to put these guardrails in place so that...