xAI Challenges Minnesota AI Nudification Ban as DOJ Warns Against State Regulations

Minnesota defends AI 'nudification' ban after lawsuit from Musk's xAI

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI should not be allowed to halt the state's ban on AI "nudification," telling a judge xAI's lawsuit challenging the ban is misguided and likely to fail. Ellison, a Democrat, said in a court filing, opens new tab on Friday in Minnesota that the law, the nation's first so-called nudification ban, was narrowly tailored and that xAI was unlikely to succeed in its constitutional challenge. The law, which took effect on August 1, prohibits website operators, software developers and others from allowing users to create realistic images depicting an intimate body part that is not shown in an original photo of an identifiable individual. xAI sued Minnesota in July, arguing the law violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment ⁠by restricting protected expressive activity. Minnesota's attorney general's office and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank in St. Paul, Minnesota, will consider xAI's bid for an order, opens new tab preliminarily halting the law at a hearing on Wednesday. Frank last month turned down an earlier bid from Musk to stop the law from taking effect but agreed to fast-track his review of the measure. Musk's Grok AI chatbot has faced mounting criticism over its creation of sexually explicit content. Regulators have sought stronger safeguards and imposed bans to help curb the spread of artificially created illegal material. xAI has begun suing users whom it alleges are evading Grok's technological blockers to create sexual images of people without their consent. In its lawsuit, xAI ⁠contends Minnesota law is overly broad and contains "no exception for images of artistic, scientific, political, satirical, educational, medical, or religious significance." xAI said the law covers "benign images of people in shorts (inner thigh), men without shirts (breast), and competitive swimmers (buttocks and breast)." The penalty is up to $500,000 for each violation. Minnesota said it adopted the measure this year to combat the spread of what it called a "staggering amount (of) child ⁠sexual abuse material that AI products like Grok Imagine generate." The state's filing pointed to testimony from victims whose photographs were used to create fake pornographic images. The attorney general argued the law regulates a technological tool and not protected speech. The case is X.AI LLC v. ⁠Keith Ellison, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 26-cv-03425-DWF-DTS. For xAI: Robert Dunn of Eimer Stahl and Todd Noteboom of Stinson For Minnesota: Peter Farrell and Janine Kimble of the state attorney general's office Musk's xAI sues Grok user over sexualized 'deepfakes' Baltimore ⁠sues Elon Musk's xAI over Grok sexual 'deepfakes' Despite new curbs, Grok produces sexualized images - even when told subjects didn't consent Musk's xAI curbs Grok image editing after California, Europe air concerns Elon Musk's Grok AI floods X with sexualized photos of women and minors Tennessee minors sue Musk's xAI, alleging Grok generated sexual images of them Reporting by Mike Scarcella Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

DOJ Throws Support Behind xAI's Fight Against Minnesota AI Nudification Ban

Elon Musk's xAI just got some support from the U.S. Department of Justice in its lawsuit against Minnesota over the state's ban on AI nudification technology. The Justice Department filed a statement of interest Tuesday arguing that Minnesota's law goes further than existing federal restrictions. More broadly, the department warned that a patchwork of state AI regulations could hamper industry development. However, the DOJ did not explicitly ask the judge to grant xAI's request for an injunction. Elon Musk's xAI, the company behind Grok, first sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in late July, alleging that the new law is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. Minnesota's ban on nudification technology took effect Aug. 1. It targets the companies behind the technology rather than individual users, prohibiting the owners or operators of websites, apps, software and other services from allowing users to "nudify" an image or video. Violations can carry civil penalties of up to $500,000 for each unlawful access, download, or use. xAI argues that the law is too broad because it does not explicitly account for a person's intent or whether the person depicted consented to the image being altered. The company also points out that its own policies already prohibit users from generating nude or sexualized images of people without their consent. That lawsuit comes after Grok made headlines late last year when users began using the chatbot to generate nonconsensual sexualized images of people, including images involving minors. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank previously denied xAI's request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Minnesota law from taking effect. Frank cited the timing of xAI's request, which came only days before the law was set to take effect, saying the delay undermined the company's claim that emergency relief was needed. "The state would punish xAI for allowing a user to nudify themselves," xAI attorney Robert Dunn said, according to Courthouse News. Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Janine Kimble pushed back, arguing that having terms of service banning the behavior is not enough when users are still able to generate the images. The state also cited research it says shows that around 95% of deepfake and manipulated images are nonconsensual and sexually explicit depictions of other people. Meanwhile, the Justice Department argued that federal laws already address many of the same harms but do so more narrowly. For example, the Take It Down Act requires platforms to remove reported nonconsensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, within 48 hours after receiving a valid removal request. The department also tied its argument to the Trump administration's push for fewer AI regulations. "As the nation remains in the earliest days of the AI technological revolution and in a race with adversaries for supremacy within it, states must be careful not to impose excessive measures that hinder American national and economic security," the statement reads. Frank took xAI's request for a preliminary injunction under advisement Wednesday and said he would issue a ruling as soon as possible. xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DOJ backs xAI in fight over Minnesota nudify ban

The US Justice Department has filed in support of Elon Musk's xAI, which is fighting to block a Minnesota law that bans AI "nudification" tools. A federal judge heard the case on Wednesday and will rule soon. At stake is who gets to regulate AI-made sexual imagery. The US Department of Justice has stepped into a court fight on the side of Elon Musk's xAI. It is backing the company's challenge to a Minnesota law that bans AI "nudification" tools. A federal judge heard arguments on Wednesday and said he would rule soon, according to Courthouse News Service. xAI wants a preliminary injunction to block the law while its lawsuit proceeds. The company sued Minnesota in July, arguing the statute violates the First Amendment. The case is X.AI LLC v. Keith Ellison, the state's attorney general, before Judge Donovan Frank in the District of Minnesota. The Justice Department filed a statement of interest on 18 August. It did not take a side on the injunction itself. Instead, it argued that the Minnesota law reaches further than federal law. It also warned that heavy state rules could slow the AI industry. What the law does The statute, known as HF 1606, took effect this month. It bars anyone who owns or controls a website, app or software from letting users "nudify" or sexually alter images using AI, according to the bill text. Breaking the rule carries penalties of up to $500,000. The law is a strict-liability rule. That means a platform can be liable whether or not it knew about or intended the result, xAI said in its complaint. Liability turns only on whether a user managed to create a covered image. xAI says it already bans this conduct. Its policies forbid users from generating nude or sexualised images of real people without consent. It says it has even sued users who get around its blockers. The company argues the state is treating it the same as a platform that sets out to allow the images. The courtroom argument xAI's attorney, Robert Dunn, told the court the law is too broad. He said the legislature did not weigh the free-speech problems before passing it. The statute has no carve-outs for consent, artistic expression or parody, he argued. As a result, it could punish ordinary, lawful edits. "The state would punish xAI for allowing a user to nudify themselves," Dunn said, according to Courthouse News. He said Minnesota could fix the law by focusing on consent and distribution. It could also add a "safe harbor" for platforms acting in good faith. Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Janine Kimble pushed back. She said terms of service are not enough. xAI is still reporting tens of thousands of users who create such images, she noted. She argued that Grok, the company's chatbot, and tools like it have no real barrier to entry. "The repercussions only happen after the fact," Kimble said. Someone has to see an image, report it and locate it, she said. The user also has to be within reach of a court. The state also cited a figure that around 95% of deepfake images are nonconsensual, sexually explicit depictions of other people. Why the DOJ stepped in The federal government's filing is a statement of interest, a document that lets the Justice Department weigh in without joining as a party. It was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. The filing says Washington shares Minnesota's goal of fighting sexual abuse imagery, but objects to how the state wrote its law. The department pointed to federal statutes that target the same harms. Those include the PROTECT Act and the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which President Trump signed in 2025. The TAKE IT DOWN Act sets a notice-and-removal system, giving platforms 48 hours to take down flagged images, and is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Federal law is narrower than the Minnesota rule, the DOJ argued. It requires that an act be done knowingly, it exempts matters of public concern, and it applies when an adult does not consent. HF 1606 has none of those limits, the filing said, and can apply even when an adult makes an image of themselves. The department gave a concrete example. Federal law would not cover an AI-generated image of a shirtless man in a swimming pool, it wrote, but Minnesota's law could, because it borrows a broad definition of "intimate part" that includes the inner thigh or a breast. A federal-versus-state fight The filing tied the case to the Trump administration's wider push for light-touch AI rules. It cited executive orders that call for a single national standard rather than, in its words, "50 discordant state ones". The administration has separately pushed to pre-empt state AI rules in exchange for federal legislation. "States must be careful not to impose excessive measures that hinder American national and economic security," the government wrote, citing an executive order on AI. It said federal law already addresses the same conduct. Other governments are weighing the same question. The European Union is moving to ban nudify apps, and researchers have reported that the underlying tools often sit upstream on services such as Hugging Face. Minnesota says its law targets that harm; xAI says it reaches lawful speech as well. What happens next Judge Frank had already denied an earlier request from xAI for a temporary restraining order on 31 July. In that order, the judge noted xAI filed its motion only days before the law took effect, nearly three months after it was signed, which he said undercut the claim of an emergency. He set an expedited schedule instead, and the two sides argued the injunction on 19 August. Frank took the matter under advisement and said he would rule as soon as possible. For now, the law remains in force, including against xAI, until the judge rules.

Minnesota Says xAI's Grok Created 'Marketplace for Digital Sexual Violence'

The state accused xAI of creating an "unparalleled marketplace for digital sexual violence" as a federal judge prepares to hear the case Wednesday. Minnesota is fighting Elon Musk's xAI over the company's attempt to block HF-1606, a first-of-its-kind state law targeting AI tools that generate realistic sexual images of identifiable people. In a Friday court filing, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that xAI is unlikely to succeed in its constitutional challenge and has failed to show that enforcing the law would cause irreparable harm. "With Grok Imagine, X.AI has created an unparalleled marketplace for digital sexual violence that poses virtually no barrier to entry," Ellison wrote. "That marketplace, coupled with the functional capabilities of Grok Imagine, would doom Minnesota from the start if it could not direct its laws to the technology that makes digital sexual victimization possible in the first place." The law, enacted in April and which took effect August 1, prohibits platforms and software developers from allowing users to create realistic images showing intimate body parts that did not appear in the original image of an identifiable person. Ahead of the implementation of the law, in July, xAI sued Ellison to block the law, arguing it violates the First Amendment and could apply to protected images, including shirtless men, swimmers, and political satire. Violations carry penalties of up to $500,000 per image. "There is no safe harbor for good-faith efforts of the provider of general-purpose AI creative tools to avoid harms," xAI wrote in its complaint. "Liability attaches even if the depicted persons consented -- or created the image themselves -- and even if the image is never shared." Minnesota passed the measure 132-1 in the House and 65-0 in the Senate after lawmakers heard reports of a man who used social media photos to create sexual images of more than 80 women he knew. "Today, we led the nation protecting women, children and everyone in public life from the harm caused by AI nudification technology," Senator Maye Quade, who led the push, said in a statement at the time. "Companies that make this technology available for free online and in app stores will no longer be allowed to enable predators who abuse and victimize adults and children with the click of a button. The case now centers on whether the law regulates speech or technology. Grok has also faced scrutiny over sexually explicit deepfakes. In January, a watchdog estimated Grok generated more than 23,000 sexualized images of children over 11 days, prompting investigations in several countries. In March, three minors in California joined others in suing xAI, alleging Grok was used to turn their photos into AI-generated child sexual abuse material. xAI has said it suspended more than 50,000 accounts and filed more than 70,000 reports with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2026.

Hearing Wednesday over xAI's request to temporarily block Minnesota's AI "nudification" ban

Beret Leone is a native Minnesotan who joined the WCCO team as a reporter in September 2022 - and she's thrilled be back home in the Twin Cities! Beret grew up in Chaska and graduated from Bethel University. Elon Musk's company xAI will face off with the state of Minnesota in court Wednesday over a new state law banning AI "nudification." xAI's lawsuit over the ban is turning into a fight over how far Minnesota can go to regulate AI-generated images, and whether it crosses the line into protected speech. AI nudification is when AI-powered apps create fake, sexualized images of real people, including images made without that person's consent. Musk's company argues the law is too broad and violates the First Amendment. The company also says the law could cover images that are consensual or have artistic, scientific, educational and other protected purposes. xAI first asked a judge to block the law before it took effect Aug. 1, but the judge denied that request, saying the company waited too long to bring the case. Tuesday's hearing is about whether the judge should temporarily stop Minnesota from enforcing the law while the larger legal challenge moves through court. According to the civil complaint, xAI "does not contest Minnesota's interest in prohibiting the dissemination of artificially generated nude images of real people without their consent," but the law "extends far beyond that goal." Minnesota lawmakers spoke out last month after Musk filed the suit. "I cannot believe we are having this conversation," DFL state Sen. Erin Maye Quade said. "And the audacity to come to Minnesota that is the first, but not the last, state to protect children and the people within this state the same day you have multiple people across the world suing you for the harm that you're causing is pretty audacious," "Children need us to stand up to this and to do something about it. And for too long we have been afraid to talk about it or uncomfortable to talk about it," DFL state Rep. Jessica Hanson said. "Why does the richest man in the world want to protect a feature that makes children naked?" The hearing is slated to start at 9:30 a.m. Maye Quade, who helped make the ban happen, said she will attend the hearing and plans to answer any questions afterward.