Musk’s xAI Loses Court Bid to Block Minnesota’s AI ‘Nudification’ Ban

Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation ban on AI-generated fake nude images will remain in effect as Elon Musk’s xAI pursues a constitutional challenge, after a federal judge on Friday declined to block the law at an early stage of the case.

 

Musk’s xAI argues that the measure restricts free speech protected by the US Constitution, while Minnesota says the law is narrowly tailored to curb the spread of non-consensual sexual imagery created using artificial intelligence.

 

US District Judge Donovan Frank rejected xAI’s request for a preliminary injunction against the law, which took effect on August 1. It prohibits website operators, software developers and others from allowing users to “nudify” images of identifiable people using AI technology.

 

Frank’s order said xAI had failed to show that it would suffer harm while pursuing a lawsuit alleging that the new law violates the Constitution’s First Amendment by restricting protected expressive activity.

 

“The constitutional issues raised by the parties are complex, particularly when considered in the context of this new technology and the risks that it poses to the public,” Frank wrote. “These issues deserve, and will receive, full consideration.”

 

xAI and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company said in a court filing on Friday that it would appeal the judge’s order to the St Louis-based 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, called the state’s law “overwhelmingly bipartisan and nearly unanimously approved” by state lawmakers.

 

“These nudification apps have been used to generate child sexual abuse materials and harass people in the vilest ways imaginable,” Ellison said in a statement on Friday. “That repulsive behaviour is not welcome in Minnesota.”

 

The judge previously rejected Musk’s bid in July to prevent the law from taking effect, but agreed to fast-track his review of the measure.

 

Musk’s Grok AI chatbot has faced criticism over its creation of sexually explicit content. Regulators have sought stronger safeguards and imposed bans to help curb the spread of illegally created material using artificial intelligence.

 

xAI has also begun suing users it alleges are circumventing Grok’s technological safeguards to create sexual images of people without their consent.

 

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