Wyoming woman's life shattered after finding out stepdad used pictures of her as a child to make THOUSANDS of AI child porn images, lawsuit claims

Published: 07:16, 18 August 2026 | Updated: 07:20, 18 August 2026 A Wyoming woman was left distressed and horrified when she discovered that her stepfather had allegedly made thousands of AI-generated pornographic images of her as a child that he shared online. The unidentified woman, only referred to in court documents as Jane Doe 4, has joined a federal lawsuit originally filed against xAI in March by three Tennessee teenagers, two of whom are still minors, alleging that Grok had been used to sexualize photos of them taken when they were younger. The plaintiffs are seeking damages under Masha's Law, a federal statute that allows victims of child pornography to sue. They are also making product liability claims against xAI for negligence and defective design. According to the proposed class action lawsuit seen by the Daily Mail, the woman's stepfather allegedly uploaded a photo of her from when she was about 11 years old, lying on the couch in an oversized T-shirt back in February. He then allegedly made more than 7,000 fake images of her, nude and in compromising positions, using Grok - which is the generative AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk's AI company, xAI.  The stepdad allegedly posted the explicit images online. One such photo was even captioned, 'stepdad rapes her,' the lawsuit claims.  'On information and belief, the reason Jane Doe 4's stepfather used Grok to generate the sexually explicit images of Jane Doe 4 is because the program was less restrictive than other AI models and responded to his prompts to generate sexually explicit material using an image depicting a prepubescent minor,' the suit argues.  A Wyoming woman has claimed her stepfather used Grok, the chatbot that Elon Musk (pictured) created, to generate nude photos of her as an 11 year old in sexually compromising positions  She joined a federal lawsuit originally filed against xAI in March by three Tennessee teenagers alleging that Grok had been used to sexualize photos of them taken when they were younger Then, when the company finally reached out to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which runs an automated system for reporting and removing child sex abuse material, it did not include critical information from its records – including the IP addresses associated with her stepfather's account – making it more difficult to ascertain who had created the photos, according to the suit. It also claims that xAI failed to respond to multiple requests from an investigator for more information. But officials were ultimately able to trace the pictures back to the woman's stepfather, and a raid was conducted on his and her mother's house earlier this year. When officers then discovered the disgusting images, the stepfather was taken into custody – but he was released without ever facing child pornography charges because xAI's tip to the nonprofit organization did not provide any of the explicit fake images, the woman told The Washington Post, citing her conversation with an investigator on the case.  The investigator also told her that xAI's initial report went to an internet crimes task force in a different state, causing further delays.  As the woman was struggling to come to grips with what had happened two days after the raid, her stepfather was found dead by suicide in his car, Jane Doe 4 said. The vehicle had been parked in her hometown, where she and her partner had recently bought a house, she noted.  'My life was completely normal,' the woman claimed. 'Not even 48 hours after [the raid], it was a literal nightmare.' The lawsuit claims that xAI failed to respond to multiple requests from an investigator for more information about the fake images, hindering the investigation The woman has since started therapy for trauma and has had to return to work as a nurse to support her widowed mother. 'Overnight, Jane Doe 4's entire reality was shattered by the dual tragedies of child sexual exploitation and suicide,' the lawsuit reads. 'Her family was torn apart and her life became a nightmare.' It also notes that she now 'struggles with feelings of self-loathing and disgust when she thinks about others viewing [the] images of her, and she feels as though her childhood has been stolen from her.'  'I'm living through this every day,' the woman told the Washington Post.  'I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extensively suicidal,' she added, as her voice cracked. Along with xAI, the woman and four other plaintiffs are suing Stability AI, which makes an open source customizable AI image generator called Stable Diffusion. Researchers from Germany's CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security have recently estimated that the software is behind more than 40 percent of AI-generated nonconsensual intimate imagery of real people.  In a statement to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Stability AI said it is 'committed to preventing the misuse of AI technology, particularly in the creation and dissemination of harmful content, including [child sexual abuse materials], which is specifically prohibited in our Acceptable Use Policy. 'Any suggestion that safety is not a top priority for us is categorically wrong,' the spokesperson insisted. 'We take our ethical responsibilities seriously and, since taking over the exclusive development of the Stable Diffusion family of models in late 2022 (Stable Diffusion 2 onwards), have implemented robust safeguards to enhance our safety standards to protect our products from misuse.' Musk posted in January that he was 'not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok' and that the chatbot would 'refuse to produce anything illegal' 'We regularly work with US and international law enforcement as well as organizations including Thorn and the Tech Coalition to strengthen our safeguards,' the spokesperson added. But the lawsuit comes amid increased scrutiny of xAI, which has been investigated by lawmakers in both the United States and the UK after it allowed the chatbot to publicly post sexualized images on Musk's social media site in response to requests from users to remove subjects' clothing. Over an 11-day period, the Grok account on X posted about three million sexualized images – 23,000 of which depicted children, according to the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. Musk said in a post on X at the time he was 'not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok' and that the chatbot would 'refuse to produce anything illegal.'  However, it was just weeks later that Jane Doe 4's stepfather allegedly first uploaded the photo of her as a child to Grok, which sent back fake images showing her nude. The SpaceX founder has since restricted the image generating function to paying users only and said Grok would no longer be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing where it is illegal to do so. At the same time, though, Musk has also sued Minnesota over a new law that bans the distribution of nonconsensual nude images of real people made with AI. xAI does not dispute the state's authority to protect people from nude images made or shared without their consent but claims in the suit that the law does not require proof that the person has objected to the image or that anyone disputed it, according to Law Commentary. It could therefore apply when adults alter their own photographs, agree to appear in generated images or create material that remains private, the company argues.  As the lawsuits now continue, Jane Doe 4 claimed that she feels more anxious about keeping her own child safe – as she warned that AI-generated images can cause real harm. 'Limitless access to these tools is spreading so quickly,' she noted. 'It is taking everyday life and turning it into child sex abuse.'  The Daily Mail has reached out to xAI for comment.