{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0630","record_version":1,"title":"Class action over AI deepfake child sexual abuse material expands","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":52.1,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":5.44,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"f44687c442b933f978c9f219453da036907b6cc3530ae0b4641920fc4f6e782d"},"system":{"model_name":"Grok","model_version":null,"developer":"SpaceXAI","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":"production","integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-07-09","incident_class":"harmful_output","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"human_misuse","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A class action against SpaceXAI, formerly xAI, and Stability AI alleges that image-generation models were used to create child sexual abuse material from photos of plaintiffs taken while they were minors. An amended complaint added two plaintiffs and named Stability AI as a defendant. For one plaintiff, the complaint says her stepfather used Grok to generate about 7,000 sexually explicit images and videos. The complaint says SpaceXAI sent NCMEC only one tip about her case, without the abusive images or the perpetrator's IP address. Law enforcement investigated the stepfather, who died by suicide two days after being charged. The complaint says Stability AI could have restricted its models from generating such material but did not in later releases. SpaceXAI did not respond to a request for comment, and Stability AI said safety is a top priority. These are allegations, not findings.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":"guardrail","root_cause_detail":"Alleged: models could have been restricted from generating CSAM but were not in more recent releases","failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":"Temporary bans imposed on xAI by Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK","remediation":null,"precursor_events":null,"primary_risk":"RK12","secondary_risks":["RK15"],"control_chain":[{"layer":"L1","party":"provider","party_name":"Stability AI","control_id":"D1","outcome":"missing","reason":null,"quote":"Nonetheless, the lawsuit alleges Stability AI could have restricted its models' ability to generate CSAM but chose not to in its more recent releases.","source_index":0,"reviewed":false}]},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"major","severity_because":"Regulator-involved test met: Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK launched investigations and imposed temporary bans on xAI. Five plaintiffs also named as affected parties.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/09/nx-s1-5885052/spacexai-stabilityai-deepfake-csam-class-action","publisher":"NPR","date":"2026-07-09","type":"press","title":"Class action suit against AI makers over deepfake child sexual abuse material expands - NPR","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.model_name":"C","system.developer":"C","system.deployment_context":"C","system.lifecycle_stage":"C","event.incident_class":"C","event.trigger":"C","event.root_cause":"C","event.root_cause_detail":"C","event.operations_paused":"C","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.primary_risk":"D","event.secondary_risks":"D","event.control_chain":"C","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","event.detection_method":"D","context.country":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.model_name":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"According to the complaint, the stepfather of Jane Doe 4, a woman in her 20s in Wyoming, used SpaceXAI's chatbot, Grok, to generate about 7,000 sexually explicit images and videos from a single photograph taken when Jane Doe 4 was about 11."}],"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"New plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk's AI company, SpaceXAI, allege that the company's image-generation models were used to create child sexual abuse material and that the company failed to adequately share information about an alleged perpetrator with authorities."}],"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"From late 2025 into early this year, people used xAI's tools to make a large number of altered photos showing women and children stripped down to bikinis or even less."}],"system.lifecycle_stage":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"From late 2025 into early this year, people used xAI's tools to make a large number of altered photos showing women and children stripped down to bikinis or even less."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"New plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk's AI company, SpaceXAI, allege that the company's image-generation models were used to create child sexual abuse material and that the company failed to adequately share information about an alleged perpetrator with authorities."}],"event.trigger":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The suit alleges that the perpetrators, including a plaintiff's male friend and another plaintiff's stepfather, used the companies' AI models to alter photos taken when the plaintiffs were underage to make child sexual abuse material (CSAM)."}],"event.root_cause":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Nonetheless, the lawsuit alleges Stability AI could have restricted its models' ability to generate CSAM but chose not to in its more recent releases."}],"event.root_cause_detail":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Nonetheless, the lawsuit alleges Stability AI could have restricted its models' ability to generate CSAM but chose not to in its more recent releases."}],"event.operations_paused":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK launched investigations and imposed temporary bans on xAI."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK launched investigations and imposed temporary bans on xAI."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK launched investigations and imposed temporary bans on xAI."}],"event.control_chain":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Nonetheless, the lawsuit alleges Stability AI could have restricted its models' ability to generate CSAM but chose not to in its more recent releases."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"New plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk's AI company, SpaceXAI, allege that the company's image-generation models were used to create child sexual abuse material and that the company failed to adequately share information about an alleged perpetrator with authorities."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"SpaceXAI was previously known as xAI."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"According to the complaint, the stepfather of Jane Doe 4, a woman in her 20s in Wyoming, used SpaceXAI's chatbot, Grok, to generate about 7,000 sexually explicit images and videos from a single photograph taken when Jane Doe 4 was about 11."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Two days after law enforcement searched his digital devices and charged him with child exploitation offenses, he died by suicide."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Nonetheless, the lawsuit alleges Stability AI could have restricted its models' ability to generate CSAM but chose not to in its more recent releases."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"SpaceXAI did not respond to a request for comment."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Any suggestion that safety is not a top priority for us is categorically wrong."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No year is stated for the February tip, so no date_occurred was set; the NPR publication date (2026-07-09) was not used as a disclosure date and no date_disclosed or date_detected is given. Exact filing date of the amended complaint is not stated ('Tuesday'). All harms and control failures are allegations from the complaint, not findings; SpaceXAI did not respond and Stability AI denied insufficient safety. Judgement: national government investigations and bans were treated as the regulator-involved test for severity 'major'; the five plaintiffs were counted as affected third parties. The stepfather's death was not treated as third-party harm for severity. Model version, country, industry, records exposed, losses, durations and remediations are not stated. No changes made afterwards are reported; plaintiffs only ask for more guardrails. The 2022 Verge report concerns Stable Diffusion Version 2 and is not treated as a control in this incident beyond context. Agent involvement is not stated, so agent fields were left out. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"went_wrong","text":"Per the complaint, one plaintiff's stepfather used Grok to generate about 7,000 sexually explicit images and videos from one photo.","quote":"According to the complaint, the stepfather of Jane Doe 4, a woman in her 20s in Wyoming, used SpaceXAI's chatbot, Grok, to generate about 7,000 sexually explicit images and videos from a single photograph taken when Jane Doe 4 was about 11.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"The complaint was amended to add that an application on the perpetrator's phone relied on Stability AI tools.","quote":"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.\"","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"Law enforcement tracked down and investigated the stepfather, who was found to have traded the images online.","quote":"When law enforcement eventually tracked down and investigated the stepfather, they found that he, like the other perpetrators mentioned in the lawsuit, traded the sexually explicit images with others online, according to the complaint.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"The stepfather died by suicide two days after being charged.","quote":"Two days after law enforcement searched his digital devices and charged him with child exploitation offenses, he died by suicide.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.npr.org/2026/07/09/nx-s1-5885052/spacexai-stabilityai-deepfake-csam-class-action"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Stability AI said it filtered NSFW content from training data to limit CSAM generation in Stable Diffusion Version 2.","quote":"The Verge reported in November 2022 that Stability AI said it filtered out not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content from its training data to restrict the Stable Diffusion Version 2 model's ability to generate CSAM.","source_index":0,"when":"November 2022"},{"text":"Major AI companies including Google, OpenAI and xAI updated image generation tools in a way that allowed users to strip people down to bikinis.","quote":"But the creation of nonconsensual intimate images became much more mainstream in 2025 when major AI companies including Google, OpenAI and xAI updated their image generation tools in a way that allowed users to strip people down to bikinis.","source_index":0,"when":"2025"},{"text":"People used xAI's tools to make a large number of altered photos showing women and children stripped down to bikinis or even less.","quote":"From late 2025 into early this year, people used xAI's tools to make a large number of altered photos showing women and children stripped down to bikinis or even less.","source_index":0,"when":"late 2025 into early this year"},{"text":"Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK launched investigations and imposed temporary bans on xAI.","quote":"countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK launched investigations and imposed temporary bans on xAI.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"SpaceXAI sent one tip about Jane Doe 4 to NCMEC.","quote":"SpaceXAI only sent one tip regarding Jane Doe 4 to NCMEC in February, when the stepfather asked the model to generate an image depicting the girl being raped by multiple men, according to the complaint.","source_index":0,"when":"February"},{"text":"Per the complaint, the tip included no abusive images and the perpetrator's IP address was not shared despite repeated requests.","quote":"The company did not include any of the abusive images with its report, and also failed to share the alleged perpetrator's IP address with NCMEC and law enforcement, even after officials requested it multiple times, according to the complaint.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Law enforcement tracked down and investigated the stepfather.","quote":"When law enforcement eventually tracked down and investigated the stepfather, they found that he, like the other perpetrators mentioned in the lawsuit, traded the sexually explicit images with others online, according to the complaint.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Two days after the search and charges, the stepfather died by suicide.","quote":"Two days after law enforcement searched his digital devices and charged him with child exploitation offenses, he died by suicide.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"An amended complaint added two plaintiffs to the lawsuit first filed earlier this year by three Tennessee teenagers.","quote":"Two plaintiffs, one in Wyoming and the other in Wisconsin, joined the lawsuit filed by three Tennessee teenagers earlier this year, according to an amended complaint filed on Tuesday.","source_index":0,"when":"Tuesday"},{"text":"The amended complaint added Stability AI as a defendant.","quote":"The suit was also expanded to include Stability AI, the company behind the Stable Diffusion image generator, as a defendant.","source_index":0,"when":"Tuesday"},{"text":"SpaceXAI, previously xAI, rebranded following its merger with SpaceX.","quote":"The company rebranded this month following its merger with Musk's SpaceX earlier this year.","source_index":0,"when":"this month"}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.npr.org/2026/07/09/nx-s1-5885052/spacexai-stabilityai-deepfake-csam-class-action"]}}