{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-10T09:48:09.055Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"image generation","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":1,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":1,"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-south-carolina-alleged-grok-sexual-image-abuse","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 [name withheld] ; 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 [locality withheld] 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 a breach-of-contract action in the Northern District of Texas on 14 July 2026, No. 7:26-cv-00078. Summons was served on 28 July.","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 [name withheld] created multiple xAI accounts and entered \"misleading prompts\" to create explicit deepfakes of both minors and adults'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"xAI’s complaint alleges that the accused used two accounts to generate sexual images of adults and children from their photographs between December 2025 and February 2026, including repeated attempts after refusals.","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 NCMEC reports in 2026, resulting in at least 244 arrests, and was cooperating with the criminal proceedings against this defendant.","causal_attribution":"xAI's own figures as stated in its pleading; not independently verified."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'[name withheld] 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 [name withheld]'; 'all defendants are presumed innocent'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Paragraph 34 quotes the 9 March 2026 announcement and lists [locality withheld] case numbers 2026A3010100169-71 and 2026A3010100174-78.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The office of South Carolina's Attorney General announced [name withheld]'s arrest on March 9'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"South Carolina authorities arrested the accused on 26 February 2026 after NCMEC reports and announced three second-degree and five third-degree sexual-exploitation charges. The release stresses presumed 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 [locality withheld], 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 [locality withheld], 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,.","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":"xAI sues a South Carolina user over alleged Grok sexual-image abuse","summary":"xAI filed a civil complaint against a South Carolina user, alleging that he used Grok to sexualise photographs of real adults and children and evade refusals. The user also faced pending criminal charges. The civil and criminal accusations remain allegations.","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 — report on the case","firstPublishedAt":"2026-08-04T02:56:01.27043+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T11:09:15.376604+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["grok","xai","deepfake","csam","lawsuit","south-carolina","depicted-or-impersonated","terms-of-service"]}]}