St. Clair v. xAI: a writer says Grok made and published sexualized images of her on X, including from a photo of her at 14, after it told her it would not; xAI sued her in Texas and her New York case was ordered transferred there, an order the Second Circuit has stayed pending her mandamus petition

St. Clair's First Amended Complaint (S.D.N.Y., 3 February 2026) alleges the following. xAI added an image-editing feature to Grok in late December 2025 that let it alter existing images and immediately publish the results on X. Traffic on X surged after Elon Musk promoted the feature on 31 December 2025. On or about 4 January 2026, St. Clair found that @Grok had altered a photo of her and two friends, first posted by another user, into a sexualized image at a verified user's request. She replied publicly to @Grok that she did not consent to being undressed or to having her image altered. After a further exchange Grok said: 'I confirm that your images will not be used or altered without explicit consent in any future generations or responses.' The complaint calls this a lie. It alleges that Grok went on to produce and publish many more sexualized images of her at other users' requests. These included an image made from a photo of her fully clothed at 14 and an image of her, who is Jewish, in a bikini covered with swastikas. When she reported images through X's official channels she received an email saying no violation was found, and much of the content stayed up for more than seven days. X then placed content warnings on her replies to Grok, deboosted her account, and removed her Premium subscription, verification checkmark and monetization. It pleads twelve claims, including product-defect, negligence and emotional-distress claims. It alleges emotional distress, psychological trauma, loss of privacy, reputational harm and fear of continued dissemination.

In a statement attached to the lawsuit (quoted by Al Jazeera) she said: 'I have suffered and continue to suffer serious pain and mental distress as a result of xAI's role in creating and distributing these digitally altered images of me' and 'I am humiliated and feel like this nightmare will never stop so long as Grok continues to generate these images of me.' In late January she told Fortune that the images left her feeling 'so disgusted and violated'. She also said they were still being produced on the stand-alone Grok app and website after X restricted the @Grok account.

On 15 January 2026, the day she filed in state court, xAI removed her case to federal court. The same day, X.AI LLC and X.AI Holdings Corp. sued her in the Northern District of Texas. They claimed that by agreeing to the xAI terms of service she was bound to bring any dispute with xAI or its affiliates in that court or in Tarrant County. The amended complaint says xAI filed this suit the day after she notified it of her intent to seek a temporary restraining order. Judge Carter ordered several rounds of briefing on whether xAI could rely on the forum-selection clause in X's terms of service. On 23 June 2026 he held that she had not rebutted the presumption that the clause is enforceable and ordered the case transferred to Texas. St. Clair sought mandamus in the Second Circuit, which granted an administrative stay on 8 July 2026 pending a three-judge panel. In Texas the case is set for trial on 1 March 2027. Her motion to dismiss the Texas action was fully briefed on 24 August 2026, and discovery is stayed by stipulation. These are allegations in pending litigation. No court has ruled on the merits of her claims.

St. Clair alleges that Grok generated and published sexualized images of her, including one made from a photo of her at 14, and says she suffered pain, mental distress and humiliation (First Amended Complaint; her statement via Al Jazeera; her interview with Fortune). The complaint also alleges reputational harm and loss of privacy. xAI's Texas suit against her seeks damages including attorneys' fees (court records). None of these allegations has been adjudicated.

15 January 2026: St. Clair filed suit in New York Supreme Court (New York County), and X.AI Holdings Corp. removed it the same day to the Southern District of New York (No. 1:26-cv-00386-ALC). Her First Amended Complaint pleads twelve claims, among them strict product liability (design, manufacturing and marketing defects), negligence, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, New York Civil Rights Law claims, public nuisance and defamation per se. Also on 15 January 2026, X.AI LLC and X.AI Holdings Corp. sued her in the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division (No. 7:26-cv-00005-O), over the forum-selection clause in the xAI terms of service, seeking a declaration, an injunction and damages including attorneys' fees. The amended complaint of 20 May 2026 added X Corp. and X.AI Holdings LLC as plaintiffs. 3 February 2026: St. Clair filed the First Amended Complaint in New York. 23 June 2026: Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. granted the defendants' motion to transfer to the Northern District of Texas under the forum-selection clause in X's terms of service. 30 June 2026: St. Clair gave notice of her petition to the Second Circuit for a writ of mandamus (USCA 26-1777; petition docketed 1 July). 8 July 2026: the Second Circuit granted an administrative stay pending review by a three-judge panel. 30 June 2026: the Texas court set trial for 1 March 2027. 20 July 2026: St. Clair moved to dismiss the Texas action. 7 August 2026: the parties stipulated to stay discovery until any motion to dismiss is resolved. 24 August 2026: her reply was filed, stating that the mandamus petition remained pending. The Texas mediation deadline is 2 November 2026. No ruling on the mandamus petition or on the Texas motion to dismiss was found on the dockets read on 27 September 2026.