Grok’s operators face a second proposed class action in Illinois over alleged collection of facial biometrics from uploaded photographs. Scott Wilson filed the latest case against SpaceXAI Corp. and SpaceXAI LLC in Chicago federal court on October 12, following a separate complaint brought by Cesar Padilla.
The lawsuits concern the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, and photo-processing functions offered by the AI service. According to the Padilla complaint, xAI’s parent merged into SpaceX in February 2026, and X.AI Corp. and X.AI LLC were renamed SpaceXAI Corp. and SpaceXAI LLC in August. The LLC is the entity named in Grok’s terms of service and privacy policy.
Padilla’s complaint, filed October 7, alleges that Grok derives face-specific geometry when users ask it to analyze or transform photographs while preserving the depicted person’s identity. The filing distinguishes the alleged processing from possession of an ordinary photograph, which BIPA excludes from its definition of a biometric identifier.
Padilla says he uploaded selfies through his mobile phone and requested image transformations, including a professional headshot and an anime-style image. He alleges that the service measured or encoded facial relationships to produce results that retained his appearance.
The complaint alleges that the companies collected that information without the required written notice and consent, and without publishing a retention schedule and destruction policy. It also alleges that a generated facial representation could be associated with the authenticated account used to upload the photograph.
Padilla seeks statutory damages of $5,000 per intentional or reckless violation, or alternatively $1,000 for negligent violations, together with legal costs. His requested orders include deletion of biometric information and restrictions on further processing that does not comply with BIPA. Wilson’s filing brings a separate proposed class action against the same two defendants.
Padilla, a resident of Worth in Cook County, says the alleged scans were performed on photographs he uploaded while in Illinois. His complaint estimates that the proposed class will have thousands of members and puts the amount in controversy above $5 million.
Both cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois: Padilla’s as case 1:26-cv-12335 and Wilson’s as case 1:26-cv-12502. The public docket for Wilson’s case shows the complaint, a civil cover sheet and an attorney appearance, with no further activity.
Sources: U.S. District Court, Justia, Reuters
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
