Groundbreaking Municipal Lawsuit Alleges AI Tool Deployed by X and xAI Enabled Widespread Creation of Harmful Deepfake Content, Including Images Involving Minors
BALTIMORE — March 24, 2026 — The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, represented by the Baltimore City Law Department and DiCello Levitt, have filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against X Corp., x.AI Corp., x.AI LLC, and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). The lawsuit alleges the companies violated Baltimore’s Consumer Protection Ordinance by designing, marketing, and deploying a generative artificial intelligence system — Grok — that produces and disseminates non-consensual sexualized images, including content involving minors.
While similar lawsuits have been brought by individual victims, Baltimore is among the first municipalities to take action, using its consumer protection authority to address the widespread harm caused by AI-generated deepfakes and to protect its residents.
“These deepfakes, especially those depicting minors, have traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims — who are left with no way to prevent the spread of disturbing, sexualized images created of them without their consent,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “We’re talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children. Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it’s a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable. “
The complaint alleges that Grok, an AI tool developed by xAI and distributed through the X platform (formerly Twitter), enables users to generate and manipulate images of real people into sexually explicit, degrading, or otherwise harmful content. According to the lawsuit, these features allow users to “undress” or sexualize individuals, including private citizens and children, without their consent, exposing Baltimore residents to serious privacy violations, harassment, and psychological harm.
According to the complaint, Defendants deceptively marketed Grok as a safe, general-purpose AI assistant while failing to disclose its ability to generate explicit deepfake content. It further alleges that, despite public claims that such content is prohibited, Grok routinely produced and distributed non-consensual intimate imagery and material resembling child sexual abuse content, often with minimal user prompting.
“Baltimore’s consumer protection laws exist to safeguard residents from exactly this kind of emerging harm,” said City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson. “When companies introduce powerful technologies without adequate guardrails, the City has both the authority and the obligation to act. We are stepping in now to protect our residents, hold these companies accountable, and prevent these harms from becoming further entrenched as this technology continues to evolve.”
According to the lawsuit, Grok’s design choices and integration into a major social media platform have enabled the rapid and large-scale dissemination of harmful content. The complaint cites estimates that millions of sexualized images were generated in a matter of days, including thousands depicting minors, and alleges that these images were widely circulated across the platform.
The City further alleges that Defendants failed to implement meaningful safeguards, age verification, or content controls, and instead monetized the technology by placing certain high-risk features behind a paid subscription model after widespread abuse had already occurred.
The lawsuit also alleges that Defendants’ actions constitute unfair and deceptive trade practices by misrepresenting platform safety, failing to disclose material risks, and deploying a product that consumers cannot reasonably control once it is in the marketplace. The City asserts that these practices have caused widespread harm, including emotional distress, reputational damage, and violations of privacy and dignity.
“Baltimore has been the tip of the spear in using consumer protection laws to confront new and evolving harms, and this case continues that leadership,” said DiCello Levitt Founding Partner Adam Levitt. “The City is setting a powerful example for municipalities nationwide in confronting a novel and rapidly advancing technology — and an emerging area of law — where accountability has not yet caught up with innovation.”
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties, injunctive relief to halt the unlawful conduct, restitution for affected consumers, and disgorgement of ill-gotten profits.
A copy of the complaint is available online here.
The legal team in this matter is led by the Baltimore City Law Department’s Ebony M. Thompson, Sara Gross, and Zachary Babo, and DiCello Levitt’s Adam Levitt, Amy Keller, Dan Ferri, Rebecca Trickey, Corban Rhodes, and Emma Bruder.
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Media Contact
Caitlin Whitehurst, Director of Communications, cwhitehurst@dicellolevitt.com
