Judge Denies X.AI Bid To Block Minnesota's AI Nudification Ban

ST. PAUL, MN — A judge has denied X.AI's request for a temporary restraining order that sought to block Minnesota's first-in-the-nation ban on AI nudification technology from taking effect. The law, House File 1606, took effect Aug. 1 after the ruling.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who defended the law in court, said he was proud to stand up for the dignity of Minnesotans.

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"These nudification apps, including Grok Imagine, have been used to generate child sexual abuse materials and harass people in the vilest ways imaginable," Ellison said. "That repulsive behavior is not welcome in Minnesota."

HF 1606 passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support earlier this year, with 197 lawmakers voting in favor and only one opposed. The law bans the use of technology that creates fake nude images of real people.

X.AI sued Minnesota on July 27, challenging the law just days before it was set to take effect. Two days later, the company asked the court for an emergency order halting enforcement. Ellison argued the request came too late to qualify as an emergency, since X.AI waited nearly three months after the law was signed before taking action.

The court agreed, writing that X.AI's delay "suggests that harm is not immediate."

In his filing, Ellison pointed to a string of lawsuits accusing X.AI's Grok Imagine tool of generating child sexual abuse material, including a class action brought by five children and a case filed by two Arkansas families whose daughters, under age 15, were allegedly depicted in AI-generated child pornography. A British lawmaker who criticized Elon Musk has also sued the company after Grok users created fake images depicting her being drugged and prepared for sexual assault, according to Ellison's filing.

The court has scheduled additional briefings and a hearing later in August. Ellison's office says it will continue defending the law against X.AI's lawsuit.