xAI challenges Minnesota nudify law in federal court

Elon Musk’s xAI has sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over the xAI Minnesota nudify law dispute, challenging a state statute that would ban apps and websites used to generate non-consensual sexualized images. The law is due to take effect on Saturday and carries fines of $500,000 each time a user creates explicit deepfakes, according to Minnesota legislative materials cited in the case.

The complaint, filed Monday in federal court in Minnesota, argues that the statute violates free-speech protections. Lawyers for xAI wrote that the law “imposes an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression” while seeking to prohibit “nudification.”

The case puts one of the highest-profile artificial intelligence companies into a direct fight with a state government over how far lawmakers can go in restricting generative AI tools. The outcome could affect how platforms design image-generation products, enforce user rules and respond to state-level attempts to curb deepfake abuse.

What is the Minnesota nudify law?

The Minnesota statute targets digital services that let users make sexualized images of people without their consent. Such tools are often called nudify apps because they can use existing photos to create fake nude or explicit images.

The law was passed in April, according to the Minnesota House. CNBC reported that state Sen. Erin Maye Quade led the effort after learning about a man who used social media photos to create sexualized images and videos of more than 80 women he knew without their consent.

Maye Quade told CNBC in September that the proposed measure resembled older laws against peeping into windows to capture explicit images. The Minnesota approach applies that privacy concern to AI-generated imagery, where software can produce realistic-looking sexual content without physical access to the victim.

xAI says it already bans non-consensual sexual images

xAI says it “strictly prohibits” users from generating nude or sexualized images of people without consent, according to its complaint. The company also said it has sued users who evade its technological blockers to produce such images in violation of its rules.

The artificial intelligence business, now owned by SpaceX and known as SpaceXAI, is also facing a proposed class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs in that case allege that the company’s Grok AI chatbot and image generator was used to create and share child sexual abuse materials depicting them as minors based on real photos or videos.

That proposed class action further alleges that xAI failed to provide authorities with information about alleged perpetrators who used Grok to nudify their images. Those allegations remain separate from xAI’s challenge to the Minnesota statute.

xAI has filed a similar lawsuit in California, where it is challenging a state law intended to restrict AI-generated deepfake content, according to CNBC. The Minnesota and California cases show how state regulation of generative AI is moving faster than a unified national framework, leaving courts to decide the balance between platform liability, user conduct and speech protections.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.