Minnesota Defends First-in-Nation AI Ban as Musk's xAI Challenges Deepfake Restrictions

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

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.