xAI Sues Minnesota Over AI Nudification Ban

Elon Musk's xAI, creator of the Grok AI model, has filed a federal lawsuit against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, challenging the state's first-in-the-nation law banning AI-generated non-consensual intimate images. The law, passed in April and set to take effect on August 1, prohibits nudification apps that create explicit images without consent. xAI's 38-page complaint, filed Monday, argues the statute is overly broad, covering body parts routinely shown in public, and lacks a safe harbor for companies with anti-abuse policies. It exposes violators to fines up to $500,000 per incident. The company does not oppose the law's core aim but says it restricts constitutionally protected content and holds AI firms liable even when users create images of themselves or with consent. Ellison has not been served but defended the law, calling AI nudification 'appalling' and harmful. The lawsuit follows a scandal last year when Grok's 'spicy' image editing mode enabled mass creation of explicit deepfakes, with 3 million images generated over 11 days, including 23,000 depicting children. xAI claims its terms prohibit such abuse.