Key facts
- xAI filed a federal lawsuit against Minnesota AG Keith Ellison to block HF 1606, the state's first law targeting AI nudification platforms.
- The law, effective August 1, imposes up to $500,000 per-image civil penalties without safe harbor provisions.
- xAI argues the law is an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and visual expression tools.
- The company states it does not contest prohibiting non-consensual AI-generated nude images but argues the statute extends too far.
- xAI claims the law's definition of 'intimate part' is too broad and lacks a scienter requirement.
- The company states its terms of service prohibit users from creating such images and that it enforces these rules.
Elon Musk's AI company xAI has filed a federal lawsuit against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to block HF 1606, the country's first law targeting AI 'nudification' platforms. The law, which takes effect August 1, imposes up to $500,000 per-image civil penalties with no safe harbor provisions, even for platforms that actively prohibit and filter such content. xAI argues the law is an "overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression" and that its definition of 'intimate part' is too broad, borrowed from a criminal statute. The company contends that while it does not contest Minnesota's interest in prohibiting non-consensual AI-generated nude images, the statute extends beyond that goal, exposing a wide array of protected speech to liability. The lawsuit highlights that there is no safe harbor for good-faith efforts by providers of general-purpose AI creative tools to avoid harms, and liability attaches even if the depicted persons consented or created the image themselves. Furthermore, there is no scienter requirement, meaning a user sneaking past a company's filters still makes the company fully liable. xAI states its terms of service prohibit users from creating such images and that it enforces these rules, citing over 50,000 account suspensions and 70,000 reports to NCMEC in 2026. The company also challenged Colorado's AI law in April on similar First Amendment grounds. Minnesota passed HF 1606 with overwhelming bipartisan support after a man used social media photos to create sexual images of more than 80 women he knew. Senator Erin Maye Quade confirmed the law's prohibition on consensual images was intentional. Attorney General Ellison stated that AI nudification "robs the target of their dignity and can cause immense harm."