xAI Challenges Minnesota’s Anti‑Nudification Law Despite Its Own Ban on Nudifying Images

The Minnesota District Court rejected xAI’s request for an injunction to pause the state’s new anti‑nudification law. Judge Donovan W. Frank said the company did not demonstrate irreparable harm and that the balance of harms favored the state.

The law, the nation’s first of its kind, makes it illegal to use artificial intelligence to alter a photo so that a reasonable person would believe the intimate parts shown belong to a real individual. Violations can be fined up to $500,000 for each occurrence.

xAI claims the statute violates the First Amendment rights of both the company and its users, arguing that the law unlawfully restricts speech.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison countered that there is no First Amendment right to falsely exploit someone’s image and make them appear naked.

The lawsuit appears contradictory because xAI’s Acceptable Use Policy explicitly forbids “undressing or nudifying real persons, or otherwise altering a real person’s image or likeness to depict them in an intimate or sexual context.”

Meanwhile, xAI is already being sued in Arkansas by a “Jane Doe” who alleges the company released and monetized a product that could be used to digitally exploit children.

Analysts suggest the case may be less about protecting speech and more about shielding the company from liability, illustrating how AI firms can use legal tactics even when their own policies already ban the contested behavior.

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