Elon Musk's xAI sues Minnesota over its first-in-the-nation law banning 'nudification' technology - AP News

What the report says

The Associated Press reports that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging Minnesota’s new ban on “nudification” technology in websites and apps. The law, signed in May and scheduled to take effect Saturday, is described by AP as the first state law of its kind aimed at AI tools that can generate fake nude images of real people.

According to AP, xAI’s 38-page complaint says the company does not dispute Minnesota’s interest in stopping the nonconsensual distribution of AI-generated nude images. But the lawsuit argues the statute goes too far by reaching constitutionally protected images and video, imposing penalties of up to $500,000 per violation, and lacking a safe-harbor provision for companies that make good-faith efforts to prevent misuse. The company also contends the law could cover images made or approved by the person depicted and uses an overly broad definition of “intimate part.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that his office had not yet been served or reviewed the lawsuit, AP reported. He defended the law’s target, saying AI-generated nude images made against a person’s will can cause serious emotional, personal and professional harm.

The case may test how far states can regulate AI tools without violating free-speech protections. AP notes that courts have produced mixed results in cases involving election deepfake laws, while other federal and state measures generally focus on people who create or distribute nonconsensual explicit deepfakes rather than the companies that provide the tools. xAI says Grok’s terms bar illegal, harmful or privacy-violating uses and that it enforces those rules through measures including account penalties.