UCLA’s Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) recently sought out Allen Secretov for analysis of a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s company xAI after xAI constructed AI chatbot generation tool Grok, which is directly integrated with X, was recently used to produce an estimated amount of three million explicit and unconsensual images that were published on X, with 23,000 of them depicting children. Now, three teenage girls in Tennessee are suing xAI as they were allegedly harassed by a perpetrator who used Grok to create nude and sexual images of them.
The plaintiffs’ primary argument is that xAI failed to comply with industry-standard safeguards, which Allen highlights as one of the most compelling parts of the case. He also shares that the courts are moving as quickly as they can, but since they do not have a “one-to-one precedent or previously adjudicated matter on this particular issue,” it will take some time for the case to progress.
Allen assesses potential defenses xAI may use in the case, noting that the most straightforward defense would be the protection provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. However, Allen tells CEB this defense is more risky as “LLMs and AI models are not the typical publisher that has been deemed to have immunity under Section 230, like a social media site. They are something else that is in a gray area, and they don’t want that to be tested.”
Additionally, Allen notes that California recently enacted the California Civil Code section 1714.46, which further weakens xAI’s defense by challenging xAI’s possible claim that it should be protected from legal liability for its AI-generated outputs.
“[The plaintiffs] are trying to hold xAI financially responsible for the damage they’ve allegedly caused. They’re also trying to ensure that this type of damage that allegedly occurred doesn’t happen again by changing the way the company operates,” Allen shares. “And if they are able to achieve that, then it’s possible that competitors or other companies considering this type of business practice might change their plans.”
