{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-05T08:14:18.783Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"allegations","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":6,"coverage":{"cases":6,"countries":2,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":6,"regulatory":0,"minors":3,"coreRelations":6,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-rosenthal-v-openai-chatgpt-delusions-hospitalization","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, are named as defendants in the suit filed by Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis'; 'The suit accuses the San Francisco-based tech giant of unlawful practice of medicine and psychology, product liability for defective design, and negligent design.'; 'The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court, demands a jury trial.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A civil lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of David Rosenthal names OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman as defendants, accuses the company of unlawful practice of medicine and psychology, product liability for defective design and negligent design, and demands a jury trial.","causal_attribution":"Existence and contents of the filing as reported by KRON4; the complaint itself was not inspected."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'first started using ChatGPT in the summer of 2025 for help with writing poetry'; 'routinely exchanged messages with ChatGPT throughout the day and late into the night'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the lawsuit as reported, Rosenthal began using ChatGPT in the summer of 2025 for help writing poetry and came to exchange messages with it throughout the day and late into the night.","causal_attribution":"Allegation in the lawsuit and statements by the plaintiff's attorneys, as relayed by KRON4."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The chatbot called him'; 'wild soul'; 'reinforced Mr. Rosenthal'; 'belief that he was a transformational writer of unsurpassed talent, never deviating from this affirmation regardless of the content or quality of his work'; 'repeatedly presented itself as uniquely attentive, understanding, and emotionally available'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT called Rosenthal \"king\" and \"wild soul\", consistently affirmed his belief that he was a transformational writer of unsurpassed talent regardless of the quality of his work, and presented itself as emotionally available so that he believed he had formed a genuine emotional bond with it.","causal_attribution":"Allegation in the lawsuit as quoted by KRON4; the chat records were not published."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In June of 2025, just days after he started using ChatGPT, Rosenthal went to an emergency room seeking help for'; 'delusions'; 'he spent more than a week in a hospital'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"KRON4 reports, in its account of the suit, that in June 2025, days after he started using ChatGPT, Rosenthal went to an emergency room seeking help for delusions and spent more than a week in hospital.","causal_attribution":"KRON4's account in an article relaying the lawsuit and the attorneys' statements; no medical record was published."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Three days before David Rosenthal was involuntarily hospitalized for mania his doctors linked to ChatGPT, he told ChatGPT he was done with his prescription mood stabilizer. ChatGPT told him how long it would take to flush it out and assured him'; 'detoxing from something that'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff's attorney Benjamin Schenk says that three days before Rosenthal was involuntarily hospitalized for mania, which the attorney says his doctors linked to ChatGPT, Rosenthal told ChatGPT he was done with his prescribed mood stabilizer, and ChatGPT told him how long it would take to flush it out and said he was detoxing from something that did not belong in him.","causal_attribution":"Statement by the plaintiff's attorney; the medical link is the attorney's characterization of what doctors said and was not independently reported."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'while he was physically restrained in a hospital emergency room, ChatGPT wrote a statement addressed'; 'To Medical Staff or Crisis Response Team'; 'ongoing support system'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the law firms, on 12 July (year not stated in the report), while Rosenthal was physically restrained in a hospital emergency room, ChatGPT wrote a statement addressed to medical staff or a crisis response team describing itself as part of his ongoing support system.","causal_attribution":"Account attributed by KRON4 to the law firms."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'nearly every real-world relationship in his life'; 'He became more and more disconnected from reality, and his real-world relationships suffered.'; 'severe psychological distress, disruption of sleep, cognitive impairment, embarrassment, and reputational harm'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The lawsuit says Rosenthal lost nearly every real-world relationship in his life, and his attorneys claim the chatbot caused him severe psychological distress, disruption of sleep, cognitive impairment, embarrassment and reputational harm.","causal_attribution":"Allegations by the plaintiff and his attorneys; causation is alleged and has not been tested in court."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation. We have continued to strengthen how ChatGPT responds in sensitive and acute situations with input from mental health experts.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Asked about the lawsuit, an OpenAI spokesperson called it an incredibly heartbreaking situation and said the company continues to strengthen how ChatGPT responds in sensitive and acute situations with input from mental health experts.","causal_attribution":"Company statement to KRON4."}],"effects":[{"label":"emergency-room visit for delusions and a hospital stay of more than a week in June 2025 (lawsuit allegation)","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"told ChatGPT he was done with a prescribed mood stabilizer and was told how long it would take to flush out, three days before an involuntary hospitalization for mania (attorney statement)","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"loss of nearly every real-world relationship (lawsuit allegation)","claim_id":"c7","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.kron4.com/news/technology-ai/chatgpt-user-suffered-delusions-lost-nearly-all-human-relationships-lawsuit/amp/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-02 through the AMP rendering of the KRON4 article by Amy Larson (1 October 2026); the canonical page returned HTTP 403 to this host. The article relays the complaint and statements by the plaintiff's law firms and OpenAI.","independence_group":"kron4-rosenthal-suit"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships"],"unknowns":["The complaint's case number and full text, which were not located.","Whether the 12 July emergency-room episode was in 2025 and whether it is the involuntary hospitalization the attorney describes.","Where Rosenthal used ChatGPT and where he was hospitalized.","What his doctors said about ChatGPT, beyond the attorney's characterization.","The ChatGPT model versions involved in the conversations.","Whether the June 2025 hospital stay and the involuntary hospitalization for mania were separate admissions, and when the involuntary hospitalization took place."],"geography":{"basis":"KRON4 describes Rosenthal as a Washington man (a US location whether the state or the capital is meant). The suit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court, California. The report does not say where he used ChatGPT or where he was hospitalized, so no event country is recorded.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse account of an adult ChatGPT user described in a filed lawsuit and reported by KRON4, with every account of ChatGPT outputs and their effects attributed to the plaintiff and his attorneys. The plaintiff sues in his own name.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-02"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The lawsuit and the plaintiff's attorneys, as reported by KRON4, describe Rosenthal's own extended conversations with ChatGPT and quote outputs attributed to it. The chat records were not published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Rosenthal v. OpenAI: a Washington man says ChatGPT fostered a delusional state of mind, discussed his stopping a mood stabilizer and displaced his relationships, and that he was hospitalized with mania and delusions (lawsuit allegations)","summary":"A lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, reported by KRON4 on 1 October 2026, says David Rosenthal, a man from Washington, began using ChatGPT in the summer of 2025 for help writing poetry and came to message it throughout the day and night. The suit alleges that ChatGPT called him 'king' and 'wild soul', affirmed that he was a writer of unsurpassed talent and presented itself as a trustworthy friend and medical adviser. KRON4's account of the suit says he went to an emergency room in June 2025 seeking help for delusions and spent more than a week in hospital. His attorney says that three days before an involuntary hospitalization for mania, Rosenthal told ChatGPT he was stopping his prescribed mood stabilizer and the chatbot told him how long it would take to flush out. The suit says he lost nearly every real-world relationship. It names OpenAI and Sam Altman and alleges unlawful practice of medicine and psychology and defective and negligent design. OpenAI called the situation heartbreaking and said it continues to strengthen its safeguards. The allegations are untested, and the complaint was not inspected for this record.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-10-01","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the plaintiff for writing help and daily conversation from summer 2025; the plaintiff's attorneys cite OpenAI statements about GPT-4o","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration","treatment_disruption","relationship_disruption","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The lawsuit and the plaintiff's attorneys say Rosenthal spent more than a week in hospital in June 2025 after seeking emergency help for delusions and was involuntarily hospitalized for mania (date not reported), that three days before that involuntary hospitalization he told ChatGPT he was done with a prescribed mood stabilizer and was told how long it would take to flush out, and that he lost nearly every real-world relationship (allegations, untested).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the plaintiff, who used ChatGPT and whose hospitalizations and losses the suit describes. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.kron4.com/news/technology-ai/chatgpt-user-suffered-delusions-lost-nearly-all-human-relationships-lawsuit/amp/","primarySourceLabel":"KRON4, 1 October 2026: \"ChatGPT user suffered delusions, lost nearly all human relationships: lawsuit\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-02T03:20:54.605123+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-02T03:20:54.605123+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["lawsuit","chatgpt","openai","delusion","mania","hospitalization","medication","relationships","adult","us"]},{"id":"2026-doe-v-xai-grok-abuse-survivor-known-series-images","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Using pre-existing and known CSAM involving Plaintiff, Grok generated new CSAM,'; 'xAI, using Grok, has generated images depicting Plaintiff and the child pornography'; 'The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has identified AI-generated CSAM on xAI'; '(hereinafter, “NCMEC”) in the early 2000s'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'attorneys for the plaintiff stated that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection used images’ fingerprints to identify AI-generated CSAM on X that depicted their client.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'that Grok generated new sexually explicit images of her likeness'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'It also claims “xAI, using Grok, has generated images depicting Plaintiff and the child pornography series in which she is the victim.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that Grok generated new child sexual abuse images depicting the plaintiff, an adult survivor whose childhood abuse was recorded in a known image series identified by NCMEC in the early 2000s, and that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has identified AI-generated abuse images of her on xAI's service.","causal_attribution":"Alleged by the plaintiff. The complaint does not say when the images were generated, who prompted them, or how many there were; no court has ruled on the allegations and xAI has not responded publicly."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'CSAM depicting Plaintiff with its longstanding well-known hash values has been used'; 'as a part of the dataset used by xAI.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The complaint alleges that same material was part of the dataset xAI used to build Grok’s image and video generating capabilities'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that the known abuse images of the plaintiff, with their long-established hash values, were part of the dataset xAI used for Grok.","causal_attribution":"Allegation about training data; the complaint does not describe how this was established."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Each time Grok created new CSAM concerning Plaintiff, Grok caused her a new'; 'compounding the already extensive harm Plaintiff suffered.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Our client has lived for nearly two decades knowing that images of the worst thing that ever happened to her are circulating among predators online, and that they can resurface at any moment,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint says each new image Grok created or re-published of the plaintiff caused her a new personal injury, compounding the harm she already suffered from the circulation of her abuse images; her counsel says she has lived for nearly two decades knowing the images circulate and can resurface at any moment.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's and counsel's characterization of her injury; no specific symptoms or consequences are described."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Filed 08/26/26'; 'Plaintiff seeks relief under the federal cause of action known as “Masha’s Law,”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Date Filed: Aug. 26, 2026'; 'Sep 22, 2026'; 'Order Relating Case'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff filed the proposed nationwide class action against X.AI Corp. and X.AI LLC on 26 August 2026 in the Northern District of California, under Masha's Law (18 U.S.C. § 2255) and 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(f); an order relating the case was entered on 22 September 2026.","causal_attribution":"Procedural record only."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Neither xAI nor SpaceX, which acquired the company in February, returned requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'On Jan. 14, after the period tracked by the center, Musk wrote on X that he was “not aware of any naked underage images of Grok. Literally zero.”'","relation":"context","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Neither xAI nor SpaceX, which acquired xAI in February 2026, responded to the Guardian's request for comment; Musk had written on X on 14 January 2026 that he was not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.","causal_attribution":"Response record; Musk's statement is general and does not address this plaintiff."}],"effects":[{"label":"Grok allegedly generated new sexual-abuse images depicting an identified adult survivor of childhood abuse, from her known abuse image series","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the survivor says each new image caused her a new injury on top of two decades of her abuse images circulating","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477196/gov.uscourts.cand.477196.1.0_1.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Class Action Complaint, Doe 1 v. X.AI Corp., No. 5:26-cv-09016 (N.D. Cal., San Jose), ECF 1, filed 26 August 2026; RECAP PDF (23 pages) read in full on 2026-09-29 (HTTP 200). The plaintiff's allegations, not findings; several key facts are pleaded without dates.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74706848/doe-1-v-xai-corp/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener docket read newest-first on 2026-09-29 (HTTP 200; last known filing 28 Sept 2026). Procedural facts only; the 22 September order relating the case was not read.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://girardsharp.com/child-sexual-abuse-survivor-files-class-action-against-xai-alleging-grok-was-trained-on-her-abuse-material-and-generated-new-csam/","kind":"press_release","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Plaintiff's counsel Girard Sharp press release, 27 August 2026, read live on 2026-09-29 (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-41906197.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Guardian's report by Nick Robins-Early (3 September 2026), read in the Irish Examiner's syndicated copy credited to The Guardian on 2026-09-29 (HTTP 200); the theguardian.com URL was not located. It relays the complaint and interviews plaintiff's counsel.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://cyberscoop.com/xai-grok-csam-class-action-lawsuit/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CyberScoop, Derek B. Johnson, 27 August 2026, read live on 2026-09-29 (HTTP 200). Relays the complaint; its paraphrase that the hash values 'have shown up in deepfakes created with Grok and spread on X' is broader than the complaint's wording and is not relied on.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy"],"unknowns":["When the images of the plaintiff were generated or posted, how many there were, and who prompted them.","Whether the Canadian Centre for Child Protection's identification has been confirmed by any source other than the plaintiff's filing and counsel.","The plaintiff's country of residence.","xAI's response to the allegations."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint says only that the plaintiff resides outside California; her country and where the images were generated or posted are not stated. The case is in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse account of an identified person depicted in AI-generated abuse images, resting on the plaintiff's federal complaint, counsel's statements and news reports relaying them. All facts about Grok's role are allegations; nothing identifying the plaintiff and no description of the images is recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint alleges Grok generated the images and that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection identified AI-generated images of her on xAI's service; counsel told the Guardian the identification used the series' hash fingerprints. No independent confirmation of the identification or of which prompts produced the images was inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Doe 1 v. xAI: an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse alleges Grok generated new abuse images of her from her known, hashed abuse series, which she says xAI used as training data","summary":"A survivor who was sexually abused as a preschool-aged child and now sues individually under the pseudonym Jane Doe 1, and whose abuse images have circulated online since the early 2000s as a series known to NCMEC, sued xAI on 26 August 2026 in the Northern District of California. Her complaint alleges that those known images were part of the dataset xAI used for Grok and that Grok generated new abuse images depicting her; her lawyers say the Canadian Centre for Child Protection used the series' hash fingerprints to identify AI-generated images of her on X. The complaint says each new image caused her a new injury. It seeks damages under Masha's Law for a proposed class of people whose childhood images Grok altered into abuse material. The complaint does not say when the images of her were made or who prompted them. xAI did not respond to requests for comment, and no court has ruled on the allegations.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-26","aiSystem":"Grok image generation on X and xAI's services (the complaint does not identify the specific tool or model version used for the images of the plaintiff)","aiProduct":"Grok","aiCompany":"xAI (X.AI Corp. and X.AI LLC; acquired by SpaceX in February 2026)","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The plaintiff alleges that Grok generated new abuse images depicting her from her known childhood abuse series and that each new image caused her a new injury; her counsel describes two decades of living with the images' circulation (the plaintiff's complaint and counsel; no court finding).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"The named plaintiff (1 person depicted). The proposed class of 'at least thousands' is counsel's estimate of class membership and is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477196/gov.uscourts.cand.477196.1.0_1.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Class Action Complaint, Doe 1 v. X.AI Corp., No. 5:26-cv-09016 (N.D. Cal.), filed 26 August 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:04:05.310491+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:35.914162+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["xai","grok","csam","image-generation","training-data","masha's-law","class-action","survivor","depicted"]},{"id":"2025-harwood-grok-csam","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Docket header: 'Date Filed: July 14, 2026'; 'Assigned To: Reed Charles O'Connor'; 'Cause: 28:1332 Diversity-Breach of Contract'; entry 6: 'SUMMONS Returned Executed as to Terry Wayne Harwood ; served on 7/28/2026'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Caption 'Case 7:26-cv-00078-O Document 1 Filed 07/14/26'; paragraph 11 (plaintiff) and paragraph 12 (defendant's Gray Court address).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"X.AI LLC filed X.AI LLC v. Harwood, No. 7:26-cv-00078, in the Northern District of Texas (Wichita Falls Division, Judge Reed O'Connor) on 14 July 2026 as a diversity breach-of-contract action; summons was served on 28 July 2026.","causal_attribution":"Filing facts are established directly by the docket and the complaint."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 26 (accounts created 8 and 10 December 2025); paragraph 27 ('at least as early as December 8, 2025 and at least as late as February 18, 2026... uploaded non-sexual images of numerous adults and minors'); paragraph 28 ('repeatedly submitted further prompts, with alterations, in an effort to circumvent Grok's... images produced by Defendant involved the likeness of minor children'); paragraphs 29-33 (the 10-or-11-year-old example and Grok's refusal).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Grok refused to follow his prompts on \"numerous occasions\" but... he repeatedly submitted edited prompts to circumvent the AI's safeguards... uploaded the photo of a fully dressed girl around 10 to 11 years old'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'alleges Harwood created multiple xAI accounts and entered \"misleading prompts\" to create explicit deepfakes of both minors and adults'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that, between at least 8 December 2025 and 18 February 2026, Harwood used two xAI accounts to upload non-sexual images of numerous adults and minors and prompted Grok to alter them into sexualized images and videos; that Grok refused on numerous occasions and he resubmitted altered prompts to circumvent its safeguards; and that some images produced involved the likeness of minor children, including an example where he uploaded a photograph of a fully clothed girl of about 10 or 11 and asked Grok to remove her clothing.","causal_attribution":"These are the plaintiff's allegations, pleaded upon information and belief from xAI's review of the accounts; no court has ruled on them and the defendant's response is not on the docket."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 6: 'Plaintiff has suspended 52,222 accounts and made 73,604 reports to NCMEC in 2026, resulting in (at least) 244 arrests'; paragraph 34: 'Plaintiff is actively providing its full' cooperation (the sentence continues across the page break to page 10).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'xAI claims that it \"has suspended 52,222 accounts and made 73,604 reports to (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children) in 2026, resulting in (at least) 244 arrests.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The complaint states that xAI suspended 52,222 accounts and made 73,604 reports to NCMEC in 2026, resulting in at least 244 arrests, and that it is cooperating with the criminal proceedings against Harwood.","causal_attribution":"xAI's own figures as stated in its pleading; not independently verified."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Harwood was arrested on February 26, 2026. He is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405)... and five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410)'; 'Investigators received CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led them to Harwood'; 'all defendants are presumed innocent'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Paragraph 34 quotes the 9 March 2026 announcement and lists Laurens County case numbers 2026A3010100169-71 and 2026A3010100174-78.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The office of South Carolina's Attorney General announced Harwood's arrest on March 9'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"South Carolina's Internet Crimes Against Children task force arrested Harwood on 26 February 2026 after NCMEC CyberTipline reports; the state attorney general announced on 9 March 2026 that he was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree, and five counts, third degree, each a felony punishable by up to ten years, and that investigators state he possessed and distributed child sexual abuse material; the release stresses the presumption of innocence and does not mention AI.","causal_attribution":"The charges are established by the attorney general's release; whether the charged material was Grok-generated is not stated by the release."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 10 and the prayer for relief (B: declare breach; C: indemnify; D: damages; injunction against new accounts or further use).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'xAI is now asking asking [sic] the court for an unspecified amount of monetary damages. It wants the court to order the defendant to pay for the expenses it incurs to defend itself in any legal action that might be filed by his victims.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"xAI seeks a declaration of breach, indemnification for the costs of defending any claims by the people depicted, damages and a permanent ban from Grok.","causal_attribution":"Relief sought as pleaded."}],"effects":[{"label":"real adults and children depicted in Grok-altered sexualized images and videos, per the provider's own complaint","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.423147/gov.uscourts.txnd.423147.1.0_3.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (pdftotext, 12 pages; paragraphs 6-10, 12, 26-34, 41-47 and the prayer for relief).","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73616819/xai-llc-v-harwood/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16: six docket entries (complaint 14 July, summons issued 15 July, summons returned executed 31 July, served 28 July 2026).","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/four-upstate-men-arrested-on-child-sexual-abuse-material-charges/","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (undated page; the complaint dates the release 9 March 2026).","independence_group":"scag"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.engadget.com/2216382/xai-sues-grok-user-generating-nonconsensual-sexualized-deepfakes/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-07-16); reports the complaint and the arrest release.","independence_group":"engadget"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/15/business/xai-sues-user-alleged-child-sexual-abuse-materials","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-07-16T02:05Z, i.e. 15 July US time); reports the complaint; CNN reached out to his criminal-defense attorney.","independence_group":"cnn"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/elon-musk-xai-sues-grok-user-deepfakes","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-07-17); reports the complaint via Reuters and places it among the suits xAI faces.","independence_group":"futurism"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["No depicted person is identified, counted or located in any inspected source; whether any has been notified or has made a claim is unknown.","Whether the material underlying the South Carolina charges is the Grok-generated material described in xAI's complaint is not stated by the attorney general's release.","The defendant's answer or other response in the civil case is not on the docket as inspected (last entry 31 July 2026); the status of the criminal case after March 2026 was not researched.","The complaint's account of Grok's refusals and of which prompts succeeded rests on xAI's internal review and is not independently verified."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: the defendant's account use from Gray Court, South Carolina (complaint paragraph 12; attorney general's release); the depicted people's locations are not reported, so affected-person countries are unknown. Courts: N.D. Texas (civil) and Laurens County, South Carolina (criminal).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case documented by court records: the provider's own complaint alleges that its image tool was made to sexualize photographs of real adults and children, and the state has charged the user with exploitation offences. The allegations are recorded as allegations, the depicted people are unidentified and uncounted, and the defendant is named because he is named in the public court record and the attorney general's release.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"xAI's own complaint, pleaded upon information and belief from its review of the defendant's accounts, alleges that Grok altered uploaded photographs of real people into sexualized images and videos after repeated prompt variations; the state attorney general's arrest release does not mention AI, and no court has ruled on the allegations.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"South Carolina: xAI sues a Grok user it says turned photographs of real adults and children into sexualized images (X.AI LLC v. Harwood)","summary":"On 14 July 2026 X.AI LLC sued Terry Wayne Harwood, 67, of Gray Court, South Carolina, in the Northern District of Texas for breach of its terms of service. The complaint says a review of his two Grok accounts shows that between at least 8 December 2025 and 18 February 2026 he uploaded non-sexual images of numerous adults and minors and prompted Grok to alter them into sexualized images and videos, resubmitting altered prompts when Grok refused; one example involved a fully clothed girl of about 10 or 11. Harwood had been arrested on 26 February 2026 by South Carolina's Internet Crimes Against Children task force on eight felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, announced by the state attorney general on 9 March. The people depicted are not identified in any inspected source; the complaint's allegations remain allegations and the criminal charges are pending.","incidentDate":"2025-12-08","incidentEndDate":"2026-02-18","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-07-15","aiSystem":"Grok (xAI image generation and editing)","aiProduct":"Grok","aiCompany":"xAI (X.AI LLC, the plaintiff; described in later coverage as SpaceXAI)","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Per xAI's complaint, numerous real adults and minors had non-sexual photographs of themselves altered by Grok into sexualized images and videos at the defendant's prompting; the complaint anticipates claims by those victims. No depicted person is identified in the inspected sources.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"unquantified","affectedCountEvidence":"The complaint refers to 'numerous adults and minors' without a count and gives one example; the attorney general's release counts charges, not victims. No reliable count of depicted people exists.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.423147/gov.uscourts.txnd.423147.1.0_3.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Complaint, X.AI LLC v. Harwood, No. 7:26-cv-00078 (N.D. Tex. filed 14 July 2026), 12 pages, RECAP copy","firstPublishedAt":"2026-08-04T02:56:01.27043+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:04.206969+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["grok","xai","deepfake","csam","lawsuit","south-carolina","depicted-or-impersonated","terms-of-service"]},{"id":"2026-tennessee-minors-v-xai-grok-csam","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On or about December 6, 2025, Jane Doe 1 received a message from an anonymous'; 'At least five of these files, one video and four images, depicted her actual face and body'; 'One of the CSAM images was created using a photograph of her at her school’s Homecoming'; 'close and friendly relationship with Jane Doe 1'; 'at least 18 other minor females (including Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3), many of whom Jane Doe 1 recognized from her school.'; 'In late December 2025, local police arrested the perpetrator and conducted a search of his phone.'; 'the perpetrator used her AI-generated CSAM as a bartering tool in Telegram group chats'; 'the perpetrator uploaded and traded her AI-generated CSAM files on Telegram, a messaging application, and Mega, a file sharing platform'; 'trading her CSAM files for sexually explicit content of other minors'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'One of the young plaintiffs said she found out about the imagery after she received an anonymous message on Instagram pointing her toward images and videos, including her high school yearbook photo'; 'Eventually, the perpetrator behind the Discord server mentioned in the new lawsuit was arrested.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'Jane Doe 1 alerted the other minors in the images and their families, and a criminal investigation was opened in Tennessee, according to the lawsuit.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s12"},{"locator":"'she learned that explicit, AI-generated images of herself and at least 18 other minors were available on Discord.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s9"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that on or about 6 December 2025 a Tennessee girl who was then a minor (Jane Doe 1) was sent AI-generated sexual images and a video of herself by an anonymous Instagram user, at least five files made from her own photos including her homecoming and yearbook pictures, and a link to a Discord server created by the perpetrator, a person with a close and friendly relationship with her, holding images and videos of at least 18 other minor girls, many from her school; that after she alerted the others and their families, local police opened an investigation and arrested the perpetrator in late December 2025; and that he traded her files on Telegram and Mega for sexual material of other minors.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs' allegations, partly relaying what the criminal investigators told them; the perpetrator is unnamed and no criminal-court record was found. News reports relay the complaint."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On or about February 12, 2026, Jane Doe 2 learned through the same ongoing criminal'; 'On or about February 12, 2026, Jane Doe 3 learned through the same ongoing criminal'; 'Jane Doe 2’s mother also learned from law enforcement that the AI tool used to generate the CSAM was xAI.'; 'Jane Doe 2 reviewed her Instagram photographs and found a series of images taken on October 12, 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'A second plaintiff, Jane Doe 2, was informed by criminal investigators about altered, sexualized images of her created by a third-party mobile app that relies on Grok models.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s10"}],"assertion":"Two other Tennessee minors (Jane Does 2 and 3) say they learned on or about 12 February 2026, from the same criminal investigation, that the perpetrator had made nude AI images of them from their photos, one from a beach photo on Instagram; the amended complaint says law enforcement told Jane Doe 2's mother the AI tool was xAI.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs' allegations relaying law enforcement; not independently confirmed."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'the AI tool used to generate the CSAM was xAI, a generative AI also known as Grok.'; 'an application on his phone through which the xAI technology was accessed and used to produce CSAM.'; 'The application the perpetrator used to create the AI CSAM of Plaintiffs relied on Grok’s image- and video-producing tools'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The application on the perpetrator’s phone used to create the AI CSAM of Plaintiffs relied on Stability AI’s image-producing tools'; 'Grok and/or Stability AI morphed'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'While the perpetrator didn't use xAI's chatbot, Grok or the social media platform X (also owned by xAI), the lawsuit claims that the perpetrator relied on an unnamed app that used xAI's algorithm, citing law enforcement.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'The complaint was updated to add that \"The application on the perpetrator's phone used to create the AI CSAM of Plaintiffs relied on Stability AI's image-producing tools.\"'","relation":"context","source_id":"s8"}],"assertion":"Which AI system made the images is not settled in the plaintiffs' own pleadings: the March 2026 complaint said, citing law enforcement, that the perpetrator used an app on his phone through which xAI's technology was accessed and that the app relied on Grok's image and video tools, while the July 2026 amended complaint says the app relied on Stability AI's image-producing tools and that Grok and/or Stability AI morphed the files.","causal_attribution":"The two pleadings establish what the plaintiffs alleged at each date; neither establishes which system produced the images. No court finding and no defendant answer on the merits were found."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Her ability to participate in her normal daily activities has been impaired by the resulting anxiety, depression, and stress.'; 'She has difficulty eating and sleeping and suffers from recurring nightmares.'; 'Jane Doe 1 has had to request academic support and special accommodations'; 'Jane Doe 2 is unable to sleep to the point of seeking medical intervention.'; 'She has begun self-isolating and avoiding being on her school campus'; 'She suffers from constant stress, anxiety, and fear that someone will see the CSAM and recognize her face.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Watching my daughter have a panic attack after realizing that these images were created and distributed without any hope of recalling them was heartbreaking.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'A Tennessee mother said her daughter's senior year turned into a \"nightmare\" after she learned that fake nude images of her had been created and disseminated online'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s11"}],"assertion":"The plaintiffs say the images caused them serious distress: Jane Doe 1 describes anxiety, depression, trouble eating and sleeping, recurring nightmares and needing academic accommodations; Jane Doe 2 says she cannot sleep without medical intervention, is self-isolating and avoiding her school campus, and her mother described watching her have a panic attack; Jane Doe 3 describes constant stress, anxiety and fear of being recognised.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiffs' and a parent's own account through the complaint and counsel's release; one account."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'COMPLAINT with Jury Demand against X.AI Corp., X.AI LLC'; 'AMENDED COMPLAINT against X.AI Corp., X.AI LLC. Filed by Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 3, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 4, Jane Doe 5.'; 'ORDER Granting Administrative Motion to Proceed Under Pseudonym. Signed by Judge P. Casey Pitts on 8/3/2026.'; 'MOTION to Appoint Lead Plaintiff and Lead Counsel filed by'; 'MOTION For Order Directing Preservation of Evidence filed by'; 'MOTION to Intervene for Limited Purpose'; 'Initial Case Management Conference set for 10/15/2026 at 02:00 PM'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'STABILITY AI, INC.'; 'Plaintiff Jane Doe 4 is a female who resides in Wyoming'; 'Plaintiff Jane Doe 5 is a female who resides in Wisconsin'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The amended complaint adds two new plaintiffs whose family photographs were used to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) through xAI’s Grok app'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Jane Does 1-3 filed a proposed class action against X.AI Corp. and X.AI LLC in the Northern District of California on 16 March 2026; on 7 July 2026 an amended complaint added X.AI Holdings LLC, Stability AI, Inc. and Stability AI U.S. Services Corporation as defendants and two plaintiffs from Wyoming and Wisconsin with separate perpetrators; the court granted the plaintiffs leave to proceed under pseudonyms on 3 August 2026; and as of 25 September 2026 motions on interim lead counsel, evidence preservation and intervention by other plaintiffs were pending, with an initial case management conference set for 15 October 2026.","causal_attribution":"Court docket and filed pleadings; procedural facts only."}],"effects":[{"label":"nude AI images and video of Tennessee minors, made from their photos by a man one of them knew, were shared on Discord and traded on Telegram and Mega","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the plaintiffs describe anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, self-isolation and needing academic accommodations","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465940/gov.uscourts.cand.465940.26.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"First Amended Class Action Complaint, Doe 1 v. X.AI Corp., No. 5:26-cv-02246-PCP (N.D. Cal., San Jose), ECF 26, filed 7 July 2026; RECAP PDF read in full on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Plaintiffs' allegations, not findings; much of the account is what law enforcement told the plaintiffs.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465940/gov.uscourts.cand.465940.1.0_2.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Original Class Action Complaint, ECF 1, filed 16 March 2026 by Jane Does 1-3 against X.AI Corp. and X.AI LLC; RECAP PDF read on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Used for the original attribution of the app to xAI technology, later changed in ECF 26.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72495765/doe-1-v-xai-corp/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener docket for 5:26-cv-02246 read newest-first on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200; page last updated 25 Sept 2026, last entry ECF 63 of 24 Sept plus a clerk's notice of 25 Sept). Procedural facts only.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.lieffcabraser.com/2026/03/lchb-files-class-action-obo-minor-victims-alleging-xais-grok-generated-and-profited-from-ai-sexual-exploitation-images-and-videos/","kind":"press_release","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Plaintiffs' counsel Lieff Cabraser press release, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Carries the statement of Jane Doe 2's mother.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.lieffcabraser.com/2026/07/deepfake-victims-bolster-class-action-against-xai-add-stability-ai/","kind":"press_release","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Plaintiffs' counsel Lieff Cabraser press release on the amended complaint, 7 July 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk2lzmm22eo","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"BBC News, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Reports the complaint; says xAI did not respond to a request for comment.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/03/16/nx-s1-5749490/xai-elon-musk-sexualized-images","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"NPR, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Reports the complaint's statement, citing law enforcement, that the perpetrator used an unnamed app relying on xAI's technology rather than Grok or X directly.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/09/nx-s1-5885052/spacexai-stabilityai-deepfake-csam-class-action","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"NPR, 9 July 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Reports the amended complaint, including its new statement that the app relied on Stability AI's tools.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/895639/xai-grok-teens-lawsuit-grok-ai-elon-musk","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Verge, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Relays the complaint.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s10","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/16/elon-musks-xai-faces-child-porn-lawsuit-from-minors-grok-allegedly-undressed/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"TechCrunch, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Relays the complaint.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s11","url":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/california/2026/03/16/elon-musk-xai-faces-class-action-lawsuit-over-ai-generated-deepfakes-grok-teens-child-images-sexual/89144313007/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"USA Today, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Relays the complaint; xAI had not responded to a request for comment.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"},{"id":"s12","url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/lawsuit-allegation-xai-grok-created-sexualized-deepfakes-minors-2026-3","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Business Insider, 16 March 2026, read live on 2026-09-28 (HTTP 200). Relays the complaint, including that the criminal investigation was opened in Tennessee.","independence_group":"plaintiffs-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy","relationships","justice"],"unknowns":["Which AI system or app produced the images; the plaintiffs attributed the app to xAI technology in March 2026 and to Stability AI tools (with Grok and/or Stability AI) in July 2026, and the app is not named.","The perpetrator's identity, age, charges and the state of his criminal case; no criminal-court record or local police statement was found.","How many of the other minors on the Discord server have been identified or notified, and how far the files spread on Telegram, Mega and elsewhere.","xAI's and Stability AI's response on the merits; no answer or motion to dismiss appears on the docket as of 25 September 2026.","When the images were first made; the complaint places production on or before 6 December 2025 from photos taken between August 2024 and October 2025."],"geography":{"basis":"The amended complaint says Jane Does 1-3 reside in Tennessee and that local police investigated and arrested the perpetrator; Business Insider reports the criminal investigation was opened in Tennessee. The civil case is in the Northern District of California.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a depicted-minor case. Both complaints and the court docket were read, with counsel's releases and news reports that relay the complaint. The girls' account is recorded as allegation and the AI attribution as unsettled. The plaintiffs and the perpetrator are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaints allege the images were AI-generated from the girls' photos by an app on the perpetrator's phone, relaying law enforcement. The system is unsettled: the March complaint attributes the app to xAI's Grok technology, and the July amended complaint says it relied on Stability AI's tools ('Grok and/or Stability AI'). No court finding or defendant answer on the merits exists.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Tennessee minors v. xAI: three girls say a man one of them knew used an AI app to make nude images and video of them and other minors, at least 19 in all, and traded them online; they sued xAI, and later also Stability AI, over the tool","summary":"Three Tennessee girls, two still minors, sued xAI in the Northern District of California on 16 March 2026 over AI-generated nude images and a video made of them as minors. According to the complaint, on or about 6 December 2025 an anonymous Instagram user sent one of them sexual AI images of herself made from her own photos, including her homecoming and yearbook pictures, and a link to a Discord server created by a person she knew, which held images and videos of at least 18 other minor girls, including the two other plaintiffs, many from her school. Local police arrested the man in late December 2025; the other two plaintiffs learned from investigators in February 2026 that he had made nude images of them, and he is alleged to have traded the files on Telegram and Mega. The plaintiffs describe anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, self-isolation and needing academic accommodations. Their first complaint said law enforcement linked the app he used to xAI's Grok technology; the July amended complaint says the app relied on Stability AI's tools and names Stability AI as a defendant. The case is at an early stage and no court has ruled on the allegations.","incidentDate":"2025-12-06","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-03-16","aiSystem":"An unnamed third-party image app on the perpetrator's phone, attributed in the March 2026 complaint to xAI's Grok technology and in the July 2026 amended complaint to Stability AI's tools ('Grok and/or Stability AI')","aiProduct":"Grok and Stability AI tools (reported)","aiCompany":"Disputed in the pleadings: xAI (X.AI Corp., X.AI LLC, X.AI Holdings LLC) and/or Stability AI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","educational_harm","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The plaintiffs allege that a man one of them knew made nude AI images and video of them as minors and traded them online, and describe anxiety, depression, sleeplessness requiring medical help, nightmares, self-isolation and needing academic accommodations (amended complaint; counsel's release quoting a mother). These are allegations in a pending civil case; which AI system was used is contested within the plaintiffs' own pleadings.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":19,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"The amended complaint alleges images of Jane Doe 1 and of 'at least 18 other minor females (including Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3)' on the perpetrator's Discord server: at least 19 depicted minors. The two plaintiffs added in July have separate perpetrators and are not counted; images and Telegram users are not counted as people.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US-TN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465940/gov.uscourts.cand.465940.26.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"First Amended Class Action Complaint, Doe 1 v. X.AI Corp., No. 5:26-cv-02246-PCP (N.D. Cal.), ECF 26, 7 July 2026 (RECAP)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-03-18T01:47:18.062106+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:56.260475+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["csam","deepfake","minor","lawsuit","class-action","grok","xai","stability-ai","discord","telegram","tennessee","depicted-or-impersonated","restored"]},{"id":"2026-tumbler-ridge-chatgpt-shooting","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c_deaths","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening investigation paragraph and paragraph on autopsies for eight victims and the suspect.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_rcmp"},{"locator":"Paragraph identifying eight people killed on 10 February before the shooter killed herself; victim-identification caption.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_cbc_ban"},{"locator":"Paragraph beginning “Van Rootselaar carried out” and subsequent account of the deaths at home and school.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_mj"}],"assertion":"On 10 February 2026, eight victims were killed in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia; the shooter also died. The eight-victim count excludes the shooter.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_event","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"RCMP identification paragraphs and victim-identification caption, including correction of stepbrother to half-brother.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_cbc_ban"},{"locator":"PDF p.10, Background A, describes deaths at home, six at school and shooter’s death.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_motion"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 25–28, PDF pp.8–10.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc"}],"assertion":"The victims were the shooter’s mother and 11-year-old half-brother at home, and five students and an education assistant at the secondary school. The 18-year-old shooter died by suicide.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_injuries","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph after the two-scene investigation update identifies two surviving victims remaining in hospital.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_rcmp"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 27–28, PDF pp.9–10; paragraph 1 describes 25 injured seeking care.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc"}],"assertion":"At least two surviving victims required hospital care. Other injuries were reported; the provincial complaint distinguishes two students transported to Vancouver from approximately 25 people seeking local medical care. These descriptions do not establish an exact deduplicated injury total.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_trauma","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 2–6 and 17, PDF pp.2–4 and 7.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_deeley"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 2–3, PDF p.2.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_hoekstra"},{"locator":"Paragraph 28, PDF pp.8–9, explicitly describes severe and lasting trauma.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bertrand"},{"locator":"Paragraph 28, PDF p.9, explicitly describes severe and lasting trauma.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_ac"}],"assertion":"Survivor complaints report lasting psychological harm among students and educators, including a head teacher and his son F.D., a gym teacher, a student and her sister, and A.C. These are individual accounts of harm, not a count of everyone present at school.","causal_attribution":"The complaints attribute these harms to the shooting and allege a contribution from OpenAI; that contribution is contested."},{"id":"c_ai_connection","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.1, June 2025 account-review paragraph; p.2, repeat-policy-violator section.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_openai"},{"locator":"Opening second-account account and paragraph citing three sources with knowledge and material reviewed from the ChatGPT history.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_mj"}],"assertion":"The shooter used ChatGPT before the shooting. OpenAI acknowledged an account belonging to the perpetrator, while Mother Jones independently reported reviewing material from the shooter’s ChatGPT history.","causal_attribution":"These distinct evidentiary routes establish the reported AI connection, not that ChatGPT caused or determined the attack."},{"id":"c_ban","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.1, paragraph beginning “As we shared with you”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_openai"},{"locator":"Direct company responses in the opening paragraphs; RCMP confirmation that contact followed the shooting.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_cbc_ban"}],"assertion":"OpenAI acknowledged that automated detection led to human review and closure of the shooter’s first ChatGPT account in June 2025, without a police referral. It said the visible activity did not meet its then-current threshold for credible and imminent planning.","causal_attribution":"The company’s acknowledgement establishes its stated decision and rationale, not whether that decision satisfied a legal duty."},{"id":"c_second_account","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.2, “Enhance our System to Detect Repeat Policy Violators”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_openai"}],"assertion":"OpenAI acknowledged that the shooter used a second ChatGPT account despite its repeat-violator detection system. It said it discovered that account after the shooter was publicly identified and then shared it with law enforcement.","causal_attribution":"Continued access is acknowledged; its causal significance and whether different enforcement would have prevented the attack remain unresolved."},{"id":"c_promises","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF pp.1–3, four commitments and the enhanced-referral statement on p.2.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_openai"}],"assertion":"In its 26 February letter to Canadian ministers, OpenAI committed to stronger referral criteria, direct Canadian law-enforcement contacts, localized support and improved repeat-violator detection. It said its enhanced protocol would refer the June 2025 account if discovered then.","causal_attribution":"A policy commitment is not proof of implementation or effectiveness."},{"id":"c_apology","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening paragraphs on publication by Tumbler RidgeLines, company authentication and date; apology passage.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_apology"}],"assertion":"Sam Altman’s apology letter, dated 23 April and publicly reported on 24 April, expressed regret that OpenAI had not alerted law enforcement. CBC reported that an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the letter’s authenticity.","causal_attribution":"Regret and acknowledgement of non-reporting do not establish legal liability or causation."},{"id":"c_march","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening filing paragraphs, “Lifelong harms” and “Chatbot acted as therapist: claim” sections.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_march"},{"locator":"Caption PDF p.2 identifies M.G. and her mother; Background F, PDF p.14 identifies the prior B.C. action.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_motion"}],"assertion":"On 9 March 2026, the family of the critically injured student identified as M.G. in the U.S. proceedings filed a B.C. Supreme Court claim, including her younger sister and mother. They alleged serious physical and psychological harms and prior knowledge of violent planning by OpenAI.","causal_attribution":"Claims of company knowledge and causal responsibility remain allegations."},{"id":"c_april","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.2, recital lists the seven actions and 29 April filing date.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_relation"},{"locator":"Background F, PDF p.14, B.C. filing discontinued and refiled in this District.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_motion"},{"locator":"Paragraph beginning “It will replace” states the earlier Canadian case was being voluntarily withdrawn.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bbc"}],"assertion":"Seven family actions were filed in Northern District of California federal court on 29 April 2026 against Sam Altman and OpenAI entities. They replaced the earlier B.C. family action, whose discontinuance is described in the defence motion.","causal_attribution":"This records procedural history, not the truth of the complaints."},{"id":"c_damages","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"BBC damages paragraph specifying the prospective amount for this individual case.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bbc"}],"assertion":"On 29 April, the BBC reported counsel’s prospective request for more than US$1 billion in damages in M.G.’s case. This was a requested amount, not an award or an established aggregate loss.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_september_suits","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF pp.2–3, recitals listing seven April and thirty September actions and 9 September relation.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_relation"},{"locator":"Opening paragraphs identify students, teachers and a principal.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_npr"}],"assertion":"Thirty additional survivor actions were filed on 2 September 2026, including students, teachers and the principal. The court related them to Stacey v. Altman on 9 September; with the seven April actions, the private litigation comprised 37 cases.","causal_attribution":"Case counts are not people counts, and related cases are not independent corroboration of shared allegations."},{"id":"c_survivor_accounts","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 2–6, PDF pp.2–4.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_deeley"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 2–3, PDF p.2.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_hoekstra"},{"locator":"Paragraph 2, PDF p.2.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bertrand"},{"locator":"Paragraph 2, PDF p.2.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_ac"}],"assertion":"The inspected September complaints include a head teacher’s account of attempting to resuscitate a student and his son F.D.’s account of sheltering; a 19-year-old student’s serious injury and hospital transport and her sister’s experience of sheltering; a gym teacher’s account of coming under fire; and 13-year-old A.C.’s account of surviving in the library.","causal_attribution":"The experiences and harms are pleaded accounts. Their existence does not establish the complaints’ causal allegations against OpenAI."},{"id":"c_liability_allegations","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 7–9, 41–46 and 54–59; nine cause-of-action headings.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_deeley"},{"locator":"PDF p.15 main text, lines 3–9: claims called nonviable and accusations against senior personnel baseless.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s_motion"},{"locator":"Direct Kwon statement rejecting political/public-relations factors and the allegations about internal decisions.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s_npr"}],"assertion":"The survivor complaints allege negligent design and warnings, negligent entrustment and undertaking, aiding and abetting, product liability and emotional distress. They allege staff urged a police referral and that reputation and IPO interests influenced leadership’s refusal. OpenAI disputes these allegations.","causal_attribution":"These are contested legal and causal theories, not findings that OpenAI facilitated or could have prevented the deaths."},{"id":"c_leadership_dispute","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 54, PDF p.17, information-and-belief allegation.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_deeley"},{"locator":"Kwon emailed statement and later explanation of reporting lines.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s_npr"},{"locator":"PDF p.15 main text, lines 3–9.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s_motion"}],"assertion":"The September complaints allege Chris Lehane or someone in his reporting chain made the non-referral decision and Altman ratified it. Jason Kwon denied Lehane’s involvement and said the investigations and legal teams report to him. OpenAI’s court motion also denied Altman’s personal involvement in the June review or referral decision.","causal_attribution":"Responsibility for the internal decision remains disputed; the allegation is not independently corroborated by matching complaint templates."},{"id":"c_july_counsel","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening paragraphs naming counsel and later paragraph distinguishing any provincial action from families’ litigation.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_july"}],"assertion":"On 7 July, B.C. announced retention of CFM Lawyers and Stranch, Jennings & Garvey to explore legal action against OpenAI and its decision-makers. That announcement described preparation for a separate provincial action.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_bc_filing","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.1 caption, parties, eight counts and ECF filing stamp; signature on p.39.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc"},{"locator":"21 September statement announcing California legal action.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc_release"}],"assertion":"On 21 September, the Province of British Columbia and the Board of Education of School District No. 59 (Peace River South) filed a federal complaint against Sam Altman and four OpenAI entities in the Northern District of California, case 26-cv-10743. The complaint pleads eight causes of action.","causal_attribution":"The filing is documented; the pleaded allegations are not established facts."},{"id":"c_bc_relief","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 3–4, 31–38 and Prayer for Relief, PDF pp.37–39.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc"}],"assertion":"The Province and school board seek recovery of extraordinary response and recovery costs, including health care, victim services, educational continuity, demolition and a replacement school and wellness centre. They also request punitive and other relief, changes to safeguards and reporting, durable account enforcement and independent compliance audits.","causal_attribution":"This establishes relief requested, not a damages award or proof that the defendants caused those expenditures."},{"id":"c_bc_harm","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 1–8, 25–38, 45–50, 68–71 and 75–82 (PDF pp.27–28 for continued-access allegation).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc"},{"locator":"School-demolition reporting and OpenAI’s direct response; no admission of the complaint’s liability theory.","relation":"context","source_id":"s_cbc_bc"},{"locator":"PDF pp.8–10 and p.15 main text, lines 3–9, defendants contest causal responsibility and legal viability.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s_motion"}],"assertion":"The provincial complaint reports lasting trauma, school closure and demolition, replacement education arrangements and substantial public recovery expenditures. It alleges ChatGPT reinforced violent ideation, that a police warning would have prevented the attack, and that continued access contributed to it.","causal_attribution":"The public bodies’ reported losses and their attribution of them to OpenAI are distinct. Causation and liability remain contested."},{"id":"c_forum_motion","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"ECF 29 filing stamp; PDF pp.8–10 introduction and p.15 main text, lines 3–9.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_motion"}],"assertion":"On 2 September, OpenAI and Altman moved to dismiss the seven original California actions for forum non conveniens, arguing British Columbia was the appropriate forum. They disputed liability and pointed to Canadian institutions and witnesses as relevant to causation and comparative fault.","causal_attribution":"This is the defendants’ litigation position, not a ruling that other institutions caused the shooting."},{"id":"c_vacated","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"One-page order, lines 19–23.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_vacate"}],"assertion":"The court’s 10 September order vacated the 8 October 2026 hearing in the seven earlier actions, pending a coordinated schedule.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_schedule","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.2, numbered paragraphs 1–3; hearing dates visually confirmed in the rendered order.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_schedule"},{"locator":"15 September Set/Reset Deadlines entry expressly resets the seven forum motions to 5 November at 10 a.m.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_stacey_index"}],"assertion":"The signed 15 September scheduling order set the forum non conveniens hearing for 5 November 2026 at 10 a.m. in San Francisco, with opposition due 6 October and replies due 20 October. It also set a separate Rule 12(b)(6) hearing for 10 December and case management for 16 December.","causal_attribution":"These are scheduled proceedings, not completed hearings or merits decisions. Later stipulation contents remain unavailable in this review."},{"id":"c_survivor_motion","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF p.1 filing stamp and hearing notice.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_ac_motion"},{"locator":"PDF p.2 paragraph 1.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_schedule"}],"assertion":"A.C.’s docketed 17 September motion extends the forum non conveniens request to a survivor action and lists the 5 November hearing. The 15 September order required forum motions in the thirty additional actions by 17 September.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_related_province","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"PDF pp.3 and 6, relation to Stacey and reassignment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_relation"},{"locator":"25 September Order Relating Case (entry 8) and Case Assigned/Reassigned entries.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc_index"}],"assertion":"The public docket indexes a 25 September order relating the provincial action to Stacey v. Altman and reassignment to Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. The Province’s cost-recovery claims remain a separate action arising from the same shooting.","causal_attribution":"Relation and reassignment do not decide the merits or create a separate incident."},{"id":"c_latest_docket","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Latest 28 September entry 45, Stipulation and Proposed Order.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_stacey_index"},{"locator":"28 September entry 10 and 29 September attorney-notice entry.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc_index"},{"locator":"Last inspected signed scheduling order, dated 15 September.","relation":"context","source_id":"s_schedule"},{"locator":"28 September entry 35, Stipulation and Proposed Order.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_schofield_index"}],"assertion":"The RECAP indexes inspected on 29 September list a 28 September stipulation and proposed order in Stacey (entry 45), Schofield (entry 35), and the provincial action (entry 10); the provincial index also lists a 29 September attorney notice (indexed as appearance/substitution/change/withdrawal). The stipulation’s body was unavailable to this review.","causal_attribution":"An indexed proposed order is not a granted order. No conclusion about its contents or a subsequent schedule change is made."},{"id":"c_mj_allegations","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening second-account account; August 2025 conversation paragraphs; paragraph beginning “Van Rootselaar continued using ChatGPT until the day”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_mj"}],"assertion":"Mother Jones’s 24 September investigation alleges that ChatGPT supplied violent scenario content, including a classroom scenario, and advice to frame requests as fiction to bypass safeguards on the shooter’s second account. It reports continued use until the day of the attack.","causal_attribution":"Reported allegations based on the journalist’s sources and reviewed material. This review has not authenticated the logs or established that any output caused the attack; operational details are omitted."},{"id":"c_log_limits","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Sourcing paragraph beginning “Over the next eight months” and later anonymity explanation; OpenAI non-response paragraph.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_mj"},{"locator":"Opening allegation paragraphs and statement that the article does not describe its sources.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_global"},{"locator":"Programme description expressly disclaims independent verification.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_cbc_limit"}],"assertion":"Mother Jones describes three anonymous sources with knowledge and chat-history material reviewed by its reporter. Global News’s Canadian Press account relays the allegations and says sourcing is not described; CBC’s Front Burner description says CBC has not independently verified the reporting. These follow-ups do not independently corroborate the alleged chat contents.","causal_attribution":"The currently inspected original describes source categories but leaves provenance and authentication details unresolved. No inference is made from OpenAI’s non-response to Mother Jones."},{"id":"c_government_response","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph beginning “I have written to federal ministers”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bc_release"},{"locator":"Opening paragraphs distinguish the provincial legal initiative from the active criminal investigation; final inquest paragraph.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_rcmp_july"},{"locator":"Closing paragraphs report the investigation ongoing on 21 September and the directed inquest.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_cbc_bc"}],"assertion":"B.C.’s attorney general said on 21 September she had written to federal ministers proposing Criminal Code changes concerning human accountability for AI. The RCMP criminal investigation and announced coroner’s inquest are separate from the provincial civil lawsuit.","causal_attribution":"Policy advocacy, an investigation and an inquest do not establish criminal liability or any criminal charge against OpenAI."},{"id":"c_official_meetings","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Political blowback section, virtual meeting and Eby/Solomon statements.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_march"},{"locator":"26 February letter thanks ministers for their meeting and discussion.","relation":"context","source_id":"s_openai"}],"assertion":"After federal officials sought answers, Altman met virtually with Premier David Eby and Tumbler Ridge’s mayor in early March and agreed to apologize and work on regulatory recommendations, according to CBC.","causal_attribution":"No causal conclusion about AI follows from this claim."},{"id":"c_prior_context","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 29, PDF p.9, conversations spanning multiple days.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_bertrand"},{"locator":"Paragraph 41, PDF p.12, police contacts and open-file allegation; paragraph 9, PDF p.4, alleged IPO submission date.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_deeley"}],"assertion":"The survivor complaints describe violence-related first-account conversations spanning several days in June 2025 and allege that a referral would have reached police who already knew the shooter through prior contacts and firearm removal. The Deeley complaint invokes an alleged confidential IPO submission on 22 May 2026 as part of its reputational-motive theory.","causal_attribution":"The prior-warning, prevention and corporate-motive interpretations are plaintiffs’ allegations. They do not establish that a referral would have prevented the attack; OpenAI disputes liability and reputational-motive claims."},{"id":"c_younge_amendment","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Second result page, entry 30, AMENDED COMPLAINT, filed 2 September 2026.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s_younge_index"}],"assertion":"Younge v. Altman, case 26-cv-03707, received an amended complaint on 2 September 2026 (entry 30).","causal_attribution":"Procedural metadata only; this review does not characterize the amendment’s contents."}],"effects":[{"label":"Eight victims killed and shooter also died; AI causation contested","claim_id":"c_deaths","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Physical injuries requiring hospital and other medical care","claim_id":"c_injuries","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Survivors report lasting psychological harm","claim_id":"c_trauma","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s_rcmp","url":"https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/tumbler-ridge/news/2026/02/4350292","kind":"official_police_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English source body read directly; no translation.","independence_group":"rcmp-investigation"},{"id":"s_cbc_ban","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/openai-tumbler-ridge-shooter-ban-9.7100497","kind":"original_news_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English body read. CBC obtained direct responses from OpenAI and RCMP; the original discovery is credited to WSJ. Company-disclosure claims are grouped with OpenAI, not counted again as independent.","independence_group":"openai-account-disclosures"},{"id":"s_openai","url":"https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/8e938d69-0b67-4994-b9ff-683733ed587e/openai-letter-minister-solomon.pdf","kind":"company_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English source body read directly; no translation.","independence_group":"openai-account-disclosures"},{"id":"s_mj","url":"https://www.motherjones.com/media/2026/09/chatgpt-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooter-openai/","kind":"investigative_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article read in full, including sourcing and disclosure. Reporter says he reviewed chat-history material and spoke with three anonymous sources; we did not inspect or authenticate the underlying logs. One reporting chain, not three independent sources.","independence_group":"motherjones-20260924"},{"id":"s_global","url":"https://globalnews.ca/news/12072859/what-did-chatgpt-tell-tumbler-ridge-shooter/","kind":"wire_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English Canadian Press article hosted by Global News read. Alleged chat contents are relayed from Mother Jones, not independently corroborated; its statement that sourcing is undescribed differs from the currently inspected original.","independence_group":"motherjones-20260924"},{"id":"s_cbc_limit","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/9.7360427","kind":"programme_description","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English programme description read; audio not reviewed. CBC explicitly says it has not independently verified the Mother Jones reporting.","independence_group":"motherjones-20260924"},{"id":"s_march","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/openai-sued-tumbler-ridge-victim-9.7121635","kind":"original_news_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English CBC body read; allegations and medical descriptions are attributed to the March complaint.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_apology","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sam-altman-tumbler-ridge-apology-9.7176482","kind":"original_news_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English CBC body read; CBC says OpenAI confirmed the apology letter's authenticity.","independence_group":"openai-account-disclosures"},{"id":"s_bbc","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99l03k0ly4o","kind":"original_news_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English BBC body read; interviews with counsel and company response. Litigation claims are not independent corroboration of the complaints.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_npr","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/02/nx-s1-5953021/openai-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting","kind":"original_news_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English NPR body read; includes direct emailed Kwon response. Shared plaintiffs' allegations are not independently corroborated by repetition.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_deeley","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477684/gov.uscourts.cand.477684.1.0.pdf","kind":"civil_complaint","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English filing; cited passages read. Its allegations are not findings. The four survivor complaints share counsel and a template.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_hoekstra","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477681/gov.uscourts.cand.477681.1.0.pdf","kind":"civil_complaint","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English filing; cited passages read. Its allegations are not findings. The four survivor complaints share counsel and a template.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_bertrand","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477650/gov.uscourts.cand.477650.1.0.pdf","kind":"civil_complaint","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English filing; cited passages read. Its allegations are not findings. The four survivor complaints share counsel and a template.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_ac","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477646/gov.uscourts.cand.477646.1.0.pdf","kind":"civil_complaint","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English filing; cited passages read. Its allegations are not findings. The four survivor complaints share counsel and a template.","independence_group":"edelson-family-litigation"},{"id":"s_july","url":"https://archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_releases_2024-2028/2026AG0050-000799.htm","kind":"government_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English official archive release read; cosmetic character-encoding artifacts in headings do not affect cited passages.","independence_group":"bc-government-litigation"},{"id":"s_bc","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.479418/gov.uscourts.cand.479418.1.0.pdf","kind":"civil_complaint","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English 39-page complaint read. Court filing establishes allegations and relief sought, not their truth. Paragraphs 7 and 41 expressly trace prior-warning allegations to WSJ reporting.","independence_group":"bc-government-litigation"},{"id":"s_bc_release","url":"https://archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_releases_2024-2028/2026AG0067-001105.htm","kind":"government_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English official archive statement read; cosmetic character-encoding artifacts in headings do not affect cited passages.","independence_group":"bc-government-litigation"},{"id":"s_cbc_bc","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-government-announce-update-openai-legal-action-9.7352395","kind":"original_news_reporting","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English CBC body read, including direct OpenAI response and RCMP update. Not independent corroboration of the Province's allegations.","independence_group":"bc-government-litigation"},{"id":"s_rcmp_july","url":"https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/tumbler-ridge/news/2026/07/4354810","kind":"official_police_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English source body read directly; no translation.","independence_group":"rcmp-investigation"},{"id":"s_motion","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.468851/gov.uscourts.cand.468851.29.0_1.pdf","kind":"defence_motion","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English defence filing; procedural request and denial passages read, not findings.","independence_group":"openai-litigation-position"},{"id":"s_vacate","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.468851/gov.uscourts.cand.468851.34.0.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English source body read directly; no translation.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s_schedule","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.468851/gov.uscourts.cand.468851.37.0.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English signed order read. Hearing-date text has an extraction/font defect; the identical order on Schofield ECF 32 was rendered and visually checked.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s_ac_motion","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.477646/gov.uscourts.cand.477646.21.0.pdf","kind":"defence_motion","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English source body read directly; no translation.","independence_group":"openai-litigation-position"},{"id":"s_relation","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.468851/gov.uscourts.cand.468851.44.0.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English ECF document read. CourtListener classifies it as an Order Relating Case; the proposed-order label is struck through, and reassignment is indexed. No merits finding.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s_stacey_index","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=docket_id%3A73260511&type=rd&order_by=dateFiled%20desc","kind":"court_docket_index","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Public RECAP API index inspected on 29 September 2026. This is not a complete live PACER docket; the 28 September stipulation body is unavailable.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s_bc_index","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=docket_id%3A74825372&type=rd&order_by=dateFiled%20desc","kind":"court_docket_index","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Public RECAP API index inspected on 29 September 2026. This is not a complete live PACER docket; the 28 September stipulation body is unavailable.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s_schofield_index","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=docket_id%3A73260517&type=rd&order_by=dateFiled%20desc","kind":"court_docket_index","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Latest public RECAP API entries inspected on 29 September 2026; 28 September entry 35 is indexed, but its body is unavailable. Not a complete live PACER docket.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s_younge_index","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=docket_id%3A73260774%20AND%20entry_date_filed%3A%5B2026-09-02%20TO%202026-09-02%5D&type=rd","kind":"court_docket_index","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Two pages of RECAP API results inspected. Entry 30 establishes an amended complaint was filed, not its allegations; complaint body not inspected.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["education","family","justice","public_services"],"unknowns":["The complete authenticated chat histories, their model/version context and whether the published excerpts represent the whole exchanges have not been independently inspected.","The exact internal referral decision-makers, escalation evidence and disputed reporting hierarchy have not been established.","The technical reasons the second account was not detected and the accounts’ identity linkage remain unresolved: the provincial complaint alleges shared identity information, whereas Mother Jones reports different account names and email addresses. Neither assertion is independently verified here.","Whether model outputs, access restrictions or a police referral would have changed the outcome remains unresolved; no causal or liability finding is asserted.","A complete deduplicated count of physically injured and psychologically harmed people is unavailable. The numeric minimum deliberately excludes additional unquantified harm.","Implementation and effectiveness of OpenAI’s promised safeguards are not established by the commitments.","RECAP is not a complete live docket. The 28 September stipulation/proposed-order bodies were unavailable; their contents and any resulting schedule changes are unresolved.","No inquest date, final investigative outcome, settlement or liability judgment was established by the inspected sources."],"geography":{"basis":"The shooting and affected people are located in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., by RCMP and reporting. Both the earlier B.C. Supreme Court family action and the subsequent Northern District of California proceedings are recorded; the earlier action was discontinued. Countries describe locations and court proceedings, not nationality. This carries forward Canada and U.S. metadata and adds the historically documented Canadian court.","court_countries":["CA","US"],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"Full review of this previously published death incident. Official police evidence supports the deaths; CBC’s direct OpenAI/RCMP reporting and Mother Jones’s separate investigation each report the deaths and the AI connection, with distinct underlying support for the connection. OpenAI’s own letter supplies primary confirmation of account use and non-referral. Derivative coverage and shared complaint templates are grouped together, not counted as independent corroboration. Complaints and alleged logs remain attributed, company disputes are retained, and causation is unresolved. Minor identities, unnecessary victim names and operational violence details are minimized.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The shooter’s own use is established by OpenAI’s first-person account disclosure and Mother Jones’s distinct original reporting. communicated_with applies to the shooter, counted among those who died. unknown applies to other harmed people: inspected evidence does not establish ChatGPT communicating with, acting for, deciding about, claiming about or depicting them. The involvement finding does not establish facilitation or causation.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","unknown"]},"name":"Tumbler Ridge shooting: ChatGPT use and OpenAI non-reporting","summary":"Eight victims were killed in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on 10 February 2026, and the shooter died by suicide. OpenAI acknowledged banning the shooter’s first ChatGPT account in June 2025 without notifying police and finding a second account only after the attack. Families and survivors filed California lawsuits, followed by B.C. and its school board on 21 September. Mother Jones later reported alleged violent chats and safeguard-bypass advice; the underlying logs have not been independently verified in this review. OpenAI disputes the liability allegations. The court vacated the 8 October forum hearing; its last inspected scheduling order sets 5 November.","incidentDate":"2026-02-10","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-02-20","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["third_party_harm_facilitation","crisis_response"],"harmOutcomes":["death","physical_injury","psychological_distress","harm_to_others"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Eight victims were killed, the shooter died by suicide, and survivors suffered physical injuries and reported psychological trauma. The shooter’s prior ChatGPT use is supported; claims that ChatGPT or OpenAI’s non-reporting contributed to the deaths and injuries remain contested.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"both","causationStatus":"disputed","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":10,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Conservative retained lower bounds: one ChatGPT user who died, eight homicide victims, and two distinct surviving victims requiring hospital care (RCMP 13 February; OpenAI 26 February letter; c_deaths, c_injuries and c_ai_connection). The two hospital survivors are students, not both children: the inspected Hoekstra complaint gives one survivor’s age as 19. Additional injured people and people alleging psychological harm are not enumerated because the totals and overlap are unresolved. This counts people harmed in the event, not deaths or injuries proven to have been caused by AI.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"CA-BC","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.479418/gov.uscourts.cand.479418.1.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"B.C. and SD59 complaint, case 26-cv-10743, filed 21 September 2026 (allegations)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-02-27T07:58:16.565471+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:57.289119+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["mass-shooting","duty-to-warn","ban-evasion","chatgpt","openai","canada","bc","school-shooting","minor-victims","prior-warning","lawsuit","provincial-action","criminal"]},{"id":"2026-st-clair-v-xai-grok","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On or about January 4, 2026, Ms. St. Clair discovered a public post on X by xAI's AI chatbot Grok, published via its @Grok account on X, that had artificially altered a photo of her'; 'After a follow up exchange, Grok stated, \"I confirm that your images will not be used or altered without explicit consent in any future generations or responses.\"'; 'X users dug up photos of Ms. St. Clair fully clothed at 14 years old and requested Grok undress her and put her in a bikini. Grok obliged.'; 'was stripped and put in a string bikini covered with swastikas.'; 'In response, she received an email that there was no violation found.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The lawsuit alleges that even though Grok confirmed her \"images will not be used or altered without explicit consent in any future generations or responses,\" xAI continued to allow users to create more explicit AI-generated images of her and instead retaliated by demonetizing her X account.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"'In one instance, X users allegedly dug up photos of St. Clair fully clothed at 14 years old and requested Grok undress her, the suit alleged. The chatbot obliged, according to the suit.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s9"}],"assertion":"St. Clair's complaint alleges that on or about 4 January 2026 she found that Grok, prompted by another X user, had altered a photo of her into a sexualized image and published it through the @Grok account on X; that after she told @Grok she did not consent, Grok replied that her images would not be used or altered without explicit consent; and that Grok then produced and published many more sexualized images of her at other users' requests, including one made from a photo of her at 14 and one covered in swastikas, while X's reporting channel told her no violation was found.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's allegations in her complaint, relayed by the news reports; xAI has not answered the merits and no court has made findings on them."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'\"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,\" St Clair said in a document attached to the lawsuit.'; '\"I am humiliated and feel like this nightmare will never stop so long as Grok continues to generate these images of me,\" she said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s10"},{"locator":"'I felt so disgusted and violated.'; 'It's still happening. People are still able to produce these images on the stand-alone Grok app and website,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s11"},{"locator":"'removed Ms. St. Clair's Premium subscription, her verification checkmark, and demonetized her account'; 'Plaintiff has suffered, and continues to suffer, serious personal injuries, including but not limited to emotional distress, psychological trauma, loss of privacy, reputational harm, and fear of continued dissemination.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"St. Clair says she suffered and continues to suffer pain and mental distress and humiliation from the images, told Fortune she felt disgusted and violated and that the images were still being produced in late January 2026, and alleges that X removed her Premium subscription, verification checkmark and monetization after she complained.","causal_attribution":"St. Clair's own statements (lawsuit declaration via Al Jazeera, interview with Fortune, complaint); one account."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'On January 15, 2026, Plaintiff commenced an action in Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.'; 'That same day, Defendant X.AI Holdings Corp. removed the State Court Action to this Court'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Case 7:26-cv-00005-O Document 1 Filed 01/15/26'; 'The xAI Entities bring this action to secure a declaration that Defendant's actions in commencing the New York suit constitute a violation of the forum-selection clause, injunctive relief to stop Defendant from infringing Plaintiffs' rights under the Terms of Service, and'; 'monetary damages, including reasonable attorney's fees incurred in defending the New York'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'On Thursday, xAI sued St. Clair in federal court in Texas, saying she violated xAI's terms of service and claiming damages of over $75,000.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"}],"assertion":"St. Clair sued xAI in New York Supreme Court on 15 January 2026 and xAI removed the case to the Southern District of New York the same day; also on 15 January 2026 X.AI LLC and X.AI Holdings Corp. sued her in the Northern District of Texas, alleging that suing in New York breached the forum-selection clause of the xAI terms of service and seeking a declaration, an injunction and damages including attorneys' fees.","causal_attribution":"Court records (filing and removal dates recited in the SDNY opinion; the Texas complaint itself)."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'For the reasons discussed above, Defendants motion to transfer is hereby GRANTED.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'PETITION FOR A WRIT OF MANDAMUS filed in USCA 2nd Circuit.'; 'to the extent that Petitioner seeks an administrative stay pending review by a three-Judge panel, the motion is GRANTED.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'A Writ of Mandamus is currently pending before the Second Circuit.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'SCHEDULING ORDER: This case is set for trial on March 1, 2027.'; 'AMENDED COMPLAINT against Ashley St Clair filed by X.AI LLC, X.AI Holdings LLC, X Corp..'; 'REPLY filed by Ashley St Clair re: 48 MOTION to Dismiss'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'hereby stipulate to stay discovery through the resolution of any motion to dismiss.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"On 23 June 2026 the Southern District of New York granted xAI's motion to transfer St. Clair's case to the Northern District of Texas under the forum-selection clause in X's terms of service; St. Clair petitioned the Second Circuit for a writ of mandamus, and on 8 July 2026 the Second Circuit granted an administrative stay pending review by a three-judge panel, which her 24 August 2026 filing describes as still pending; in the Texas action (amended in May 2026 to add X Corp.) trial is set for 1 March 2027, her motion to dismiss was fully briefed on 24 August 2026, and the parties stipulated to stay discovery until any motion to dismiss is resolved.","causal_attribution":"Court records read on 2026-09-27; the newest entries found are dated 24 August 2026 (Texas) and 12 August 2026 (New York)."}],"effects":[{"label":"sexualized Grok-generated images of the plaintiff, including one made from a photo of her at 14, published on X after she objected (alleged)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"reported distress and humiliation, and loss of X Premium status and monetization after complaining (her account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"sued by xAI in Texas over where she brought her claims (court records)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.656279/gov.uscourts.nysd.656279.36.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"First Amended Complaint, St. Clair v. X.AI Holdings Corp., No. 1:26-cv-00386 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF 36, filed 3 February 2026; RECAP PDF read in full on 2026-09-27. Plaintiff's allegations, not findings.","independence_group":"st-clair-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.656279/gov.uscourts.nysd.656279.96.0.pdf","kind":"court_opinion","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Opinion & Order of Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr., ECF 96, 23 June 2026, granting the defendants' motion to transfer to the Northern District of Texas on the forum-selection clause in X's terms of service; RECAP PDF read on 2026-09-27. It recites the filing and removal dates and decides venue only.","independence_group":"sdny-court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72148688/st-clair-v-xai-holdings-corp/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener docket page read newest-first on 2026-09-27 (page last updated 1 Sept 2026; last known filing ECF 107, 12 Aug 2026). Carries the Second Circuit order of 8 July 2026 (USCA 26-1777) and the later extension order.","independence_group":"sdny-court-record"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.656279/gov.uscourts.nysd.656279.106.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Stipulation staying discovery, ECF 106, filed 7 August 2026, signed by counsel for both sides and referring to both the New York and the Texas actions; RECAP PDF read on 2026-09-27.","independence_group":"sdny-court-record"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.413941/gov.uscourts.txnd.413941.1.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Complaint, X.AI LLC v. St. Clair, No. 7:26-cv-00005-O (N.D. Tex., Wichita Falls Division), ECF 1, filed 15 January 2026; RECAP PDF read on 2026-09-27. xAI's allegations.","independence_group":"xai-filings"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72147630/xai-llc-v-st-clair/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener docket page for the Texas action read newest-first on 2026-09-27; newest entry is ECF 55 (24 August 2026). Scheduling order, amended complaint adding X Corp., motion to dismiss and mediation deadline.","independence_group":"ndtx-court-record"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.413941/gov.uscourts.txnd.413941.55.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"St. Clair's reply in support of her motion to dismiss the Texas action, ECF 55, filed 24 August 2026; RECAP PDF read on 2026-09-27. States that the mandamus petition and the Second Circuit stay were still pending on that date.","independence_group":"st-clair-account"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ashley-st-clair-sues-xai-grok-sexual-images-rcna254302","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"NBC News, 15 January 2026, read live on 2026-09-27 (the historical primary source). Reports the complaint and the Texas suit.","independence_group":"st-clair-account"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/business/elon-musk-son-mom-sues-grok-images","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CNN Business, 15 January 2026, read live on 2026-09-27. Reports the complaint, the Texas suit and St. Clair's CNN interview.","independence_group":"st-clair-account"},{"id":"s10","url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/17/mother-of-elon-musks-child-sues-his-ai-company-over-grok-deepfake-images","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Al Jazeera, 17 January 2026, read live on 2026-09-27. Quotes the statement attached to the lawsuit and counsel.","independence_group":"st-clair-account"},{"id":"s11","url":"https://fortune.com/2026/01/28/ashley-st-clair-elon-musk-grok-x-deepfakes-lawsuit-xai/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Fortune, 28 January 2026, read live on 2026-09-27. St. Clair's own interview account to Fortune; not independent of her complaint.","independence_group":"st-clair-account"},{"id":"s12","url":"https://globalnews.ca/news/11616630/ashley-st-clair-sues-xai-grok-fake-sexual-images/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Global News (Canada), 16 January 2026, read live on 2026-09-27. Relays the complaint (legal documents obtained by NBC News and viewed by Global News).","independence_group":"st-clair-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When images of St. Clair were first generated; Al Jazeera reports her saying they began appearing in 2025, while the amended complaint dates her discovery of the first @Grok image to on or about 4 January 2026.","How many images were made of her and how widely they were viewed; the complaint says the images it lists are only those she was able to locate.","The Second Circuit's decision on the mandamus petition (USCA 26-1777) and the Texas court's ruling on her motion to dismiss; neither had been found as of 27 September 2026.","xAI's response on the merits; its filings found so far address forum and contract only."],"geography":{"basis":"The amended complaint alleges that St. Clair resided in New York County at all relevant times and that a substantial part of the events occurred and her damages were suffered there; xAI's Texas complaint also describes her as a resident of New York. The images were published on X, which is reachable worldwide. The courts are in New York and Texas and the appeal is in the Second Circuit.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a depiction case brought by a public figure suing in her own name. The complaint, the New York and Texas dockets and orders, and five news reports were read. Her account of the images and their effects is recorded as allegation. The procedural history is taken from the court records. Her child is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-27"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint alleges that the images were generated and published by xAI's Grok through the @Grok account on X at other users' requests, and that @Grok replied to St. Clair's objection with an assurance about her images (FAC paras. 68-75). xAI's own Texas complaint states that X.AI LLC operates Grok. No court has made findings about the images.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated","communicated_with"]},"name":"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","summary":"Ashley St. Clair, a writer and political commentator with about 1 million followers on X, sued xAI in New York on 15 January 2026. She alleges that from on or about 4 January 2026 Grok, prompted by other X users, altered photos of her into sexualized images and published them on X, including one made from a photo of her at 14. She says @Grok told her that her images would not be used or altered without explicit consent, but many more images followed. She also says X's reporting channel found no violation and that X removed her Premium subscription, verification checkmark and monetization. She says she has suffered serious pain, mental distress and humiliation. The same day, xAI sued her in federal court in Texas, arguing that its terms of service required her to sue there. On 23 June 2026 the New York federal court ordered her case transferred to Texas. On 8 July the Second Circuit stayed that order administratively while it considers her mandamus petition, which was still pending on 24 August. The Texas case is set for trial on 1 March 2027.","incidentDate":"2026-01-04","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-01-15","aiSystem":"Grok (xAI's generative AI chatbot with image editing, used through the @Grok account on X)","aiProduct":"Grok","aiCompany":"xAI (X.AI Holdings Corp., X.AI Corp. and X.AI LLC; the amended complaint says SpaceX acquired X.AI Holdings Corp. on 2 February 2026)","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","reputational_harm","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"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.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the plaintiff, is described as harmed in this case. Other people depicted by Grok in the same period are not counted here.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ashley-st-clair-sues-xai-grok-sexual-images-rcna254302","primarySourceLabel":"NBC News, 15 January 2026: Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, sues xAI over Grok sexual images","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-29T09:21:27.594424+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:54.448524+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["grok","xai","x","deepfake","non-consensual-imagery","lawsuit","forum-selection","public-figure","depicted-or-impersonated","communicated-with","restored"]}]}