xAI asks court to strip anonymity from Grok deepfake lawsuit plaintiffs

xAI has asked a federal court to require four plaintiffs suing over alleged deepfake images created with Grok to reveal their real names. The plaintiffs, identified in filings as South Carolina Doe, South Carolina Roe, New Jersey Doe, and Ohio Doe, submitted affidavits on May 29 describing emotional distress after the images were made earlier this year. They said they fear further online harassment and doxing if forced to proceed under their own names. Lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote that xAI's request compounds the harms the suit seeks to address. The filings state the plaintiffs would disclose their identities to the company but want pseudonyms in public records to protect privacy and avoid being linked to the images. xAI filed two motions in mid May asking the US District Court for the Northern District of California to reverse an earlier order permitting the pseudonyms. The company argues civil cases generally require parties to be named and that public interest supports disclosure of the plaintiffs identities. xAI's lawyers said no evidence of specific further harm has been presented and that the sealed status of the images addresses privacy concerns. The four claimants have stated they would consider dropping the case if required to use their real names.