xAI Argues Minnesota’s Ban on ‘Nudification’ Violates the First Amendment

Elon Musk’s xAI challenging Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation law that bans so-called “nudify” apps, arguing that it imposes unconstitutional restrictions on speech and expression. Earlier this year, xAI came under fire its AI chatbot, Grok, was being used to create nonconsensual sexualized images of other individuals. In May, Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, signed a law banning “nudification” technology, which was set to take effect on August 1. The law prohibits someone from using technology to “nudify” an image or video and lets victims sue for damages of $500,000 for each time a user creates an AI deepfake.However, in a federal lawsuit, xAI argues that the law “imposes an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression in a clumsy attempt to prohibit ‘nudification.’”Lawyers for xAI say that the law describes “nudification” as the process of altering or generating an image or video to “depict an intimate part not depicted in the original unaltered image or video.” But the law, the complaint says, does not define an “intimate part.”The complaint suggests that the anti-nudification law would prohibit a “wide range of pedestrian images created with AI image generation tools.” As an example, the lawsuit referenced an AI-generated image shared by President Trump.“President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum all are portrayed shirtless in the Washington Mall’s reflecting pool, along with an unknown (possibly fictitious) woman. An ‘intimate part’ (the breast) of at least the President, Vice President, Secretary of the Interior, and the woman are ‘depict[ed],’ with the Secretary of State also at least arguably included as well,” the lawsuit says.The plaintiffs say the penalty under the law is too harsh, noting that a platform where users generate 100,000 prohibited images could be fined “an eye-popping $50 billion.”The lawsuit asks a federal judge to block the enforcement of the law. Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, wrote on X, “Using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling.”“There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI. This is not one of them. AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and could cause them immense harm on many levels. I’ll see X in court,” Mr. Ellison wrote. After xAI rolled out Grok’s image generator and subsequent updates, the platform was flooded with nonconsensual AI-generated images of other individuals. The images created often depicted women wearing bikinis — though other users used the feature to target male politicians or commentators. The wave of deepfakes prompted lawmakers and foreign governments to explore ways to crack down on the images. Some American lawmakers said that the Justice Department should enforce the Take It Down Act, which prohibits the publication of nonconsensual pornographic images. The law also required social media platforms to implement a system that allows victims to demand the removal of nonconsensual suggestive images — that provision took effect on May 19. The European Union is expected to ban products that let users “nudify” images.xAI owner Elon Musk has called the outrage over “nudification” an “excuse for censorship.” xAI has also implemented some restrictions on its image generation feature, limiting Grok to only paid users and imposing some limitations on the creation of sexualized images.

xAI Argues Minnesota’s Ban on ‘Nudification’ Violates the First Amendment

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