Minnesota’s new law banning AI-generated fake nude images will remain in effect while Elon Musk’s xAI continues its constitutional challenge in federal court.
A federal judge on Friday declined to temporarily block the law, which took effect Aug. 1 and targets the use of artificial intelligence tools to create nude or sexually explicit images of identifiable people without their consent.
xAI argues that the measure violates the First Amendment by restricting protected speech. Minnesota officials, however, say the law is narrowly written to address the harms caused by nonconsensual sexual imagery and AI-generated abuse.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank rejected xAI’s request for a preliminary injunction, finding that the company had not shown it would suffer sufficient harm while the lawsuit proceeds.
Frank acknowledged that the case raises difficult constitutional questions because it involves a rapidly developing technology and concerns about public safety.
He said those issues would receive a more complete review as the case moves forward.
The law applies to website operators, software developers and others who allow users to alter images of identifiable people in a way that makes them appear nude.
xAI said in a court filing Friday that it plans to appeal Frank’s ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison defended the law, saying it passed the Legislature with broad bipartisan support.
Ellison said AI “nudification” tools have been used to harass people and create child sexual abuse material, arguing that the state has a strong interest in limiting those uses.
The latest ruling follows an earlier decision in July, when Frank also declined to stop the law from taking effect. At the time, the judge agreed to accelerate his review of the legal challenge.
The case comes as Musk’s Grok chatbot and other AI systems face growing scrutiny over the creation of sexually explicit and manipulated images. Regulators in several jurisdictions have pushed for stronger safeguards to prevent the generation and distribution of illegal or nonconsensual material.
xAI has also taken action against some users it accuses of bypassing Grok’s safety protections in order to create sexualized deepfakes of people without their permission.
The lawsuit is expected to continue focusing on whether Minnesota’s law goes too far in restricting expression or whether it is a lawful attempt to regulate harmful uses of artificial intelligence.
