Minnesota's new ban on AI "nudification" technology took effect on August 1, 2026, after a federal judge declined to pause it, even as a legal challenge by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank denied xAI's emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in a two-page order issued July 31. The judge found that the company's own timeline undercut its claim of urgent harm, noting that xAI filed its motion "nearly three months after the law was signed, and only three days before the law is set to take effect."
The order stated that such a delay "suggests that harm is not immediate," and cited a prior Minnesota case in which a similar delay weighed against granting emergency relief.
Minnesota's nudification law, explained
The statute, H.F. 1606, adds a new section to Minnesota law prohibiting any person who owns or controls a website, app, or software from allowing users to "nudify" images or generate such alterations on a user's behalf. It also bars advertising or promoting services that perform this function.
The bill defines "nudify" as altering or generating an image so that it depicts an intimate part not present in the original, in a way realistic enough that a reasonable viewer would believe it belonged to the person shown. The law carves out an exemption for tools that require "the technical skill of a user" to produce the alteration, and it preserves Section 230 liability protections under federal law.
Violations can draw a civil penalty of up to $500,000 per unlawful access, download, or use, enforceable by the attorney general, along with a private right of action allowing individuals to sue for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees. Penalty revenue collected under the law is directed toward grants for organizations serving survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes, per the bill's text.
According to NBC News, xAI's lawsuit argues the law violates the First Amendment and is broader than necessary, calling it "overinclusive" with "far less restrictive alternatives" available. Governor Tim Walz, who signed the bill in May, responded on social media: "See you in court, creep," per NBC News.
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The law follows scrutiny of xAI's Grok chatbot, whose Imagine tool reportedly began generating sexualized deepfakes at scale after a December update, prompting international backlash and an Apple app-store removal threat; NBC News reported the issue persisted as recently as April. SpaceX, xAI's parent, also faces class-action suits alleging Grok produced nude deepfakes of children and adults.
Free-speech groups are split, per NBC News. The ACLU of Minnesota, which backed an earlier bill version, said the final law didn't properly balance First Amendment interests against real harms. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression called the law overbroad; its legislative counsel, John Coleman, said it "sweeps in ordinary political speech and satire."
Minnesota's measure is described by NBC News as the first such law in the nation, part of a broader wave of state action on AI deepfakes, including cease-and-desist letters San Francisco's city attorney sent to Apple and Google in July.
