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See the full story · 3 sourcesElon Musk’s AI company is asking the court to declare a new Minnesota law unconstitutional and bar the state from enacting it
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Billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is suing the state of Minnesota over a first-of-its-kind law banning technology that allows users to create fake photos or videos of people naked without their consent.
The bill, known as HF 1606, was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz earlier this year and is set to go into effect Saturday. It bans “nudification,” or the use of artificial intelligence to digitally alter or generate photos or videos to make real people look like they are naked or engaging in sexual acts without their consent.
The law will allow people portrayed in deepfake images to bring a civil lawsuit and seek damages. Companies that violate the law could face a $500,000 penalty for each unlawful use, with few exceptions.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, Musk’s x.AI LLC, which developed the Grok chatbot, argues that the law is too broad and infringes on free speech.
While xAI “does not contest Minnesota’s interest in prohibiting the dissemination of artificially generated nude images of real people without their consent,” it argues the law “extends far beyond that goal, exposing a wide array of protected speech to civil liability and government sanctions,” according to the civil complaint.
Musk’s company said it already prohibits users from creating nude deepfakes without the consent of the person whose likeness is being featured. It noted the company previously “filed suit against users who evade its extensive technological blockers to generate such images.”
However, attorneys for the company say the new law would stifle Grok users’ First Amendment rights. The complaint said that should the law take effect this week, x.AI would limit service for users in the state.
“Satirical images restored or animated family photographs, and creative projects that Minnesota users could have made by editing images with Grok Image will be affected — not because x.AI ’s policies permit misuse (they forbid it), but because HF 1606 leaves x.AI no choice,” the company wrote in the complaint.
The lawsuit also claims that the law’s definition of “intimate part” is too broad and would ban depictions of men without shirts, people in swimsuits and other body parts “routinely displayed in public” going “far beyond what an ordinary person would consider ‘nudification,’” the complaint claims.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, wrote in a statement on X that he was prepared to defend the law.
“Using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling. 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,” Ellison wrote. “I’ll see X in court.”
Walz, the state’s governor, added, “See you in court, creep.”
Musk’s AI company is asking the court to declare the law unconstitutional and issue an order that would prevent the state from enacting it.
In December, the Trump administration said it would block states from creating their own artificial intelligence regulations. The administration announced a “comprehensive national legislative framework” for regulating the technology earlier this year.
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