Robert F. Peckham Federal Building & United States Courthouse in San Jose, Calif.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Two prominent law firms – including one in the midst of bizarre asbestos proceedings that saw it stripped of its power – are asking to lead litigation over AI-produced sexual images of minors.
Lieff Cabraser and Beasley Allen have already filed “nudification” lawsuits against x.AI, the designer of the AI product Grok, that allege it failed to implement safeguards against child sexual abuse material. On Monday, they asked a San Jose, Calif., federal judge to appoint them interim lead counsel should other firms join.
Their lawsuits were cited by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison last month as he defended a state law that opens AI companies to penalties of up to $500,000 per instance. x.AI has said in that case that it already prohibits Grok Imagine users from generating nude or sexualized images of people without their consent and has gone to court to sue those who have violated its policies.
Lieff Cabraser and Beasley Allen sued in March and August, respectively, and say their cases present overlapping issues that warrant collaboration as interim lead counsel.
“Beasley Allen has ample financial resources and staffing to fund and manage large class action litigations,” the motion says. “Beasley Allen has never used a litigation financing company for any litigation, and will not do so in this litigation, which also demonstrates the firm’s total commitment to this important case.”
The first lawsuit was filed on behalf of three Tennessee girls and styled as a class action to represent others with similar experiences. It faults Grok’s “spicy mode,” on which x.AI should have known sexualized deepfake images of minors would be created.
One plaintiff received a message from an anonymous Instagram account in December about pictures of her that were being disseminated on Discord. Among the photos was a topless depiction that had used her yearbook photo.
Attorneys at the two firms currently hold leadership positions in other high-stakes litigation. Lieff Cabraser is on the plaintiffs steering committee in Uber sexual-assault cases and Camp Lejeune toxic water cases.
Beasley Allen has a spot in social-media addiction cases in Los Angeles state court, where a jury awarded $6 million to a bellwether plaintiff in March. It does not, however, still hold its lead counsel designation in a huge federal multidistrict litigation proceeding concerning talcum powder that allegedly contained asbestos.
Tens of thousands of ovarian cancer claims could be settled for $5.5 billion, and it’s unclear how disqualification from them will affect the firm’s ultimate payday. The judge presiding over the MDL removed the firm after finding it collaborated with a former Johnson & Johnson attorney on an alternative resolution to the litigation, as did New Jersey state courts in the more than 3,000 cases there.
