Elon Musk's xAI sues over the first US ban on AI 'nudification'
Elon Musk’s company xAI has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the US state of Minnesota over a law that prohibits the use of artificial intelligence technology to create fake nude images of people. This was reported by AP.
The law will take effect on Saturday. It will be the first state-level law in the US to ban so-called "nudification" technology in apps and websites.
What the company’s claims are
In a 38-page lawsuit, xAI states that it does not oppose fighting the spread of AI-generated nude images without people’s consent. At the same time, the company argues that Minnesota’s law goes far beyond this goal.
According to xAI, the law bans a significant amount of images and videos protected by the US Constitution and imposes a fine of $500,000 for each violation.
Additionally, the lawsuit emphasizes that the law does not include a "safe harbor" provision for companies that make good-faith efforts to prevent the creation of such content by users. Also, according to xAI, the law applies even to images created with a person’s consent or by the person themselves.
The company also believes that the definition of "intimate part" in the law is too broad and covers body parts that are usually publicly displayed.
Response from Minnesota authorities
The Minnesota Attorney General stated that his office has not yet received the lawsuit and has not reviewed its contents.
At the same time, he emphasized that using artificial intelligence to create nude images of people without their consent is unacceptable and can cause significant emotional, personal, and professional harm to the victims.
How deepfakes are regulated in other states
According to AP, judicial practice regarding state deepfake laws remains ambiguous. California’s law was blocked due to First Amendment free speech protections. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s law previously withstood a legal challenge from Musk’s company in 2025.
At the same time, Minnesota’s new law differs from most state and federal laws, which usually hold accountable individuals who create sexual deepfakes without the consent of the depicted people, rather than the developers of the tools themselves.
The federal Image Removal Act, passed last year, also requires websites and apps to create a mechanism for removing such content.
Last year, Texas took a different approach. The state law provides civil and, in some cases, criminal liability for the owner of a website or app if they knew about the lack of consent for creating such an image or failed to remove it after receiving a relevant notice.
xAI’s position
The company noted that the Grok chatbot’s terms of use prohibit using it for illegal, harmful, or offensive actions that violate privacy rights, including altering photos to create nude or sexually explicit images.
According to xAI, for violations of these rules, the company suspends or blocks user accounts and reports suspicious content related to child sexual abuse.
Earlier this year, the company also announced a zero-tolerance policy toward child sexual exploitation, creating nude images without consent, and unwanted sexual content.
After international criticism over sexualized images of women and children, Grok announced in January the introduction of geoblocking of content according to the laws of individual countries. Additionally, the company stated that it implemented technical restrictions that prevent editing photos of real people by adding revealing clothing such as bikinis, underwear, or similar garments in jurisdictions where this is prohibited by law.
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