Musk’s xAI sues Minn. over first-in-the-nation law banning ‘nudification’ technology
Elon Musk’s company xAI is suing Minnesota over the state’s first-in-the-nation law that bans “nudification” technology on websites and apps
ByMARC LEVY Associated PressandBARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press
July 29, 2026, 2:19 PM
Elon Musk’s company xAI has sued Minnesota over the state’s first-in-the-nation law that bans “nudification” technology on websites and apps, potentially providing a test for how far states can go in constitutionally regulating the use of artificial intelligence
Musk’s company sued Monday in federal court, days before the law is set to take effect Saturday and make Minnesota the first state to try to outlaw the increasingly proliferating technology that lets people use AI to to create fake nude images of real people. The law was signed in May
In the 38-page lawsuit, xAI — whose AI model chatbot and image generator Grok is available on the social media platform known as X, formerly Twitter, and elsewhere — said it does not contest the state’s interest in banning the distribution of AI-generated nude images of real people without their consent. But it said Minnesota’s law “extends far beyond that goal,” banning many constitutionally protected images and video and subjecting the company to a penalty of $500,000 per violation
The lawsuit argues there is no “safe harbor” provision for companies that make good faith efforts to prevent such images from being created by users, and that it covers images that were consented to by the depicted person, or even created by that person
It also says the law’s definition of “intimate part” is overly broad, covering body parts that are routinely displayed in public
In a statement, Minnesota <a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/trumps-irs-carveout-threatens-to-hold-up-todd-blanche-attorney-general-nomination/" title="Trump’s IRS carveout threatens to hold up Todd Blanche attorney general nomination”>Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office had not been served with the lawsuit yet or seen it
“But I know that using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling. There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI policy. This is not one of them. AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and can cause immense harm on an emotional, personal, and professional level,” Ellison said
State laws over election deepfakes have had mixed results in courts. California’s law was blocked over First Amendment speech protections. Minnesota’s law has thus far survived a 2025 court challenge by Musk’s company
The law is distinct from state and federal laws that outlaw deepfakes, AI-generated sexually explicit images of people without their consent. Those laws typically penalize the people who use the tools to make these images, not the makers of the tools themselves. The federal Take it Down Act, passed last year, also requires websites and apps to implement a process to remove those images
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In the lawsuit, xAI said the terms of service for using Grok prohibit using it for “any illegal, harmful, or abusive activities” that violate someone’s privacy, including altering their image to nudify them or depict them in a sexually explicit image. It said it enforces those rules against violators through account suspensions or terminations, and by reporting suspected child sexual abuse content
XAI also said earlier this year that it has “zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.”
After a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, Grok said in January it will geoblock content if it violates laws in a particular place, preventing people from editing photos of real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal. Grok’s “spicy mode” had allowed users to create explicit content, leading to a backlash from governments worldwide
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis, underwear and other revealing attire,” xAI said in a January statement
Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter
Related Topics
- Artificial Intelligence
- Elon Musk
