- xAI sued Minnesota over new AI
- Company claims law infringes free speech and is overbroad.
- State law targets non-consensual AI images, imposing heavy fines.
- xAI faces other lawsuits regarding AI-generated harmful content.
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has launched a legal challenge against the state of Minnesota, arguing that a new law aimed at banning AI-powered “nudify” apps violates constitutional protections for free speech. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, comes just days before the legislation is scheduled to take effect.
The dispute centres on a state law designed to crack down on platforms that allow users to generate sexually explicit deepfake images of people without their consent. The legislation, approved earlier this year, introduces heavy financial penalties for violations and is intended to curb the growing misuse of generative AI tools.
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xAI Says Law Is Too Broad
In the complaint submitted on Monday, attorneys representing xAI argued that the legislation goes far beyond its intended purpose. According to the filing, the statute “imposes an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression in a clumsy attempt to prohibit ‘nudification.’”
The company also contends that the penalties outlined in the law are excessive. Under the legislation, platforms could face fines of $500,000 each time a user creates a prohibited sexually explicit deepfake. Lawyers for xAI argued that such penalties could become financially devastating, stating that a company whose users generated 100,000 prohibited images could face “an eye-popping $50 billion dollars.”
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Minnesota Targets Non-Consensual AI Images
The Minnesota law is scheduled to come into force on Saturday and specifically targets apps and websites capable of producing non-consensual sexualised images using artificial intelligence.
The measure was passed in April after being championed by Minnesota state Senator Erin Maye Quade. The legislation was introduced after she learned about a case involving a man who allegedly used publicly available social media photographs to create sexualised images and videos of more than 80 women without their knowledge or consent.
Maye Quade had earlier told CNBC that the proposal was comparable to long-standing laws that prohibit secretly taking explicit photographs by peeping through windows.
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Legal Battle Comes Amid Other xAI Challenges
The lawsuit arrives as SpaceXAI, the new name for the artificial intelligence business, is also facing separate legal scrutiny. A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that the company’s Grok AI chatbot and image generator were used to create and distribute child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) based on real images and videos of the plaintiffs. The lawsuit further claims that xAI did not provide authorities with information about individuals who allegedly used Grok to “nudify” their images.
xAI has denied supporting such activities and maintains that its platform has safeguards in place. The company said it “strictly prohibits” users from generating nude or sexualised images of individuals without their consent. It also noted in its court filing that it has taken legal action against users who “evade its extensive technological blockers to generate such images in violation.”
This is not the first time Musk’s AI venture has challenged state legislation over AI-generated content. The company previously sued over a California law intended to curb AI-generated deepfakes. That challenge achieved partial success after a federal judge struck down provisions that would have restricted AI-generated deepfake content during elections.
