Judge denies Ashley St. Clair's motion to dismiss xAI's contract claims over Grok images; Texas forum-selection clause upheld

A federal judge in the Northern District of Texas denied Ashley St. Clair's motion to dismiss breach-of-contract claims brought by xAI, upholding the forum-selection clause in xAI's terms of service that requires disputes to be litigated in Texas rather than New York.

St. Clair sued in January 2026, alleging that Grok generated and distributed sexually explicit images of her, including imagery derived from photographs of her as a 14-year-old minor. xAI counter-sued in Texas, arguing that by suing in New York she breached the forum-selection clause in her agreements with X and xAI. The October 20, 2026 ruling means St. Clair must face xAI's contract claims in Texas; her underlying claims about the Grok-generated imagery are not decided by this ruling.

The case is part of a broader wave of litigation over Grok's non-consensual intimate imagery, which has also drawn enforcement actions from EU, UK, French and US regulators.