xAI Sues Minnesota Over Anti-Nudification App Law
xAI, owner of Grok AI, has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over the state’s new anti-nudification app law. The statute, passed in May and set to take effect on August 1st, prohibits access to software that can generate explicit images without consent. xAI argues the law is overly broad and violates free speech protections under the First Amendment by penalizing even consensual or artistic content. The lawsuit claims the law imposes strict liability regardless of a company’s efforts to prevent nonconsensual image generation. The statute allows private lawsuits and penalties up to $500,000 per violation. xAI filed its suit just days before enforcement began, raising questions about why legal action was delayed despite prior public controversies involving Grok's deepfake content. The law includes a carve-out for software requiring user technical skill—like Photoshop—but not AI tools that automate the process. The case highlights growing tensions between state regulation of generative AI and constitutional protections.
Topics: AI content moderation deepfakes First Amendment nudification apps