xAI Asks Court to Strip Alleged Grok Deepfake Nudes Victims of Anonymity
“Factoring out the deepfake image itself—as it will remain under seal—there is nothing inherently stigmatizing about revealing the fact that a deepfake image was created of South Carolina Doe without revealing the image itself,” the lawyers wrote in one of their May 15 filings. “As a result, this case simply does not involve the types of compelling privacy interests traditionally recognized as requiring pseudonymity.” Neither xAI nor lawyers representing the company responded to WIRED’s request for comment about the case. Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who has specialized in tackling digital abuse, says civil cases where people are ordered to sue using their real names can lead to lawsuits being dropped, creating an “unacceptable and unjust” situation. “Forcing plaintiffs in privacy suits to sue in their names does so little for judicial transparency and so much to deter litigation,” Citron tells WIRED. All of the four pseudonyms claimants in the case, according to their legal filings on May 29, would consider dropping out of the proceedings if …
