A new legal challenge from xAI, now part of SpaceX, sees the brand suing the state of Minnesota over a law that bans nudification apps. Nudify apps are any AI-powered tool that allows users to generate non-consensual sexual imagery of real people.
The legal complaint from xAI against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison challenges the new law set to take effect on Saturday, August 1.
xAI lawyers say the law “imposes an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression in a clumsy attempt to prohibit 'nudification.'” xAI says it doesn't contest the law's intent, but it believes it goes "far beyond" its goal, "exposing a wide array of protected speech to civil liabilities and government sanctions."
The first-of-its-kind law allows fines of $500,000 each time a user is found to create explicit deepfakes without the subject’s consent. xAI says the law's penalties are too severe, citing the fact that a company with 100,000 instances would be subject to fines totaling an “eye-popping $50 billion dollars.”
The lawsuit also notes how xAI “strictly prohibits its users from generating nude or sexualized images of people without their consent.” After pressure earlier this year from multiple global authorities, Grok implemented rules restricting its use of AI to create naked images of real people.
xAI is currently suing a Grok user from South Carolina, whom it says misused its tools to create nonconsensual imagery of both adults and minors.
Ellison responded to the lawsuit on X, posting, “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." Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who signed the bill into law, replied to a post citing the lawsuit, saying, “See you in court, creep.”