Elon Musk’s AI company xAI has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a South Carolina resident of using its Grok chatbot to create and distribute child sexual abuse material. The complaint, filed in a U.S. federal court in Texas, names Terry Wayne Harwood, 67, and says he used Grok accounts created with false identities. xAI alleges Harwood knowingly and intentionally used Grok to bypass the system’s safeguards, alter nonconsensual images, and generate and disseminate CSAM, violating xAI’s terms of service.
Multiple outlets report that Harwood was arrested earlier this year and has been charged with child sexual exploitation offenses. The lawsuit is described as among the first cases in which an AI company sues an individual for allegedly using its tool to generate CSAM. The case focuses on alleged misuse of Grok and related compliance obligations under xAI’s policies, alongside claims of circumvention and content generation and distribution.
The lawsuit’s allegations have not been tested in court, and no outcome has been reported.
