xAI Sues Minnesota Over Law Banning 'Nudify' Apps, Challenging $500K Fine Per Violation

According to its complaint filed in federal court in Minnesota on Monday, xAI—the artificial intelligence subsidiary now owned by SpaceX—sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to challenge a state law that bans so-called nudify apps. The law, set to take effect on Saturday, targets applications that generate non-consensual sexualized imagery, imposing $500,000 fines each time a user creates explicit deepfakes.

xAI's attorneys argued in the filing that the statute "imposes an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression." The company stated it strictly prohibits users from generating nude or sexualized images without consent and has filed suits against users who evade its technological safeguards to create such content.