SpaceXAI class action lawsuit claims Grok AI tool violates Illinois privacy law

Grok class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Scott Wilson filed a class action lawsuit against SpaceXAI Corp. and SpaceXAI LLC.
• Why: Wilson claims SpaceXAI violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by unlawfully collecting facial geometry of Illinois citizens.
• Where: The Grok class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.

A new class action lawsuit alleges SpaceXAI — formerly known as X.AI — unlawfully collected, captured and otherwise obtained scans of the facial geometry of thousands of Illinois citizens.

Plaintiff Scott Wilson claims SpaceXAI violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act by obtaining the facial geometry scans without first securing written consent from the individuals affected.

Wilson argues the alleged BIPA violations occurred when a user of SpaceXAI’s Grok tool uploaded a photograph showing a human face and asked Grok to analyze, rate, edit, transform or generate content based on the face.

“[Grok’s] systems find the face, examine how its features are configured, and create and use a face-specific representation that measures, maps, or otherwise encodes that face’s geometry,” the class action lawsuit says.

SpaceXAI lawsuit claims Grok failed to disclose biometric data collection

The class action lawsuit alleges SpaceXAI failed to inform individuals that it was collecting their biometric identifiers, disclose the specific purpose and duration of the collection and obtain written releases from the individuals or their authorized representatives.

Wilson wants to represent a class of Illinois residents who, while located in Illinois and logged into an authenticated Grok account, uploaded a photograph depicting their own face and used Grok to analyze, rate, edit, transform or generate content based on the face.

The plaintiff demands a jury trial and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, statutory damages of $5,000 for each BIPA violation or, alternatively, $1,000 for each violation if SpaceXAI acted negligently, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, on behalf of himself and all class members.

Meanwhile, a separate class action lawsuit accuses the former X.AI of disclosing “nearly every piece of information provided by consumers to Google, Meta Platforms and TikTok” using third-party code on the Grok website.

What do you think of SpaceXAI’s alleged violations of Illinois’ BIPA law? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Katrina Carroll and Kyle Shamberg of Carroll Shamberg LLC and William J. Edelman and Michael A. Acciavatti of Milberg PLLC.

The Grok class action lawsuit is Wilson v. SpaceXAI Corp., et al., Case No. 1:26-cv-12502, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

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