xAI sues Minnesota to block nation's first AI nudification law
In brief
- xAI filed federal lawsuit Monday to block Minnesota's HF 1606, the first US law targeting AI nudification
- Company argues law is overbroad and would criminalize shirtless photos, swimwear, and non-sexual images
- Minnesota passed bill 132-1 in House and 65-0 in Senate after man used AI to generate sexual images of 80+ women
- Law imposes strict liability on platforms with no safe harbor for good-faith efforts
- HF 1606 takes effect Saturday; xAI seeks federal court order to block it before then
The law's liability structure
HF 1606 makes any platform strictly liable if users generate realistic images of real people showing body parts those people never exposed, with each violation costing up to $500,000 per image. What makes xAI's challenge urgent: the law contains no safe harbor for good-faith efforts by AI providers and imposes liability even if the depicted person consented or created the image themselves.
There's more. The law requires no scienter requirement, meaning a company is fully liable even if a user sneaks past the company's own filters. xAI characterized HF 1606 as an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and tools of visual expression. The company argues that's precisely why it doesn't work.
xAI's track record on harms
xAI doesn't contest Minnesota's interest in protecting people from nonconsensual intimate deepfakes. In 2026 alone, the company suspended more than 50,000 accounts and filed more than 70,000 reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, leading to at least 244 arrests. The company also challenged Colorado's AI law in April on similar First Amendment grounds.
Still, Grok's image tools generated deepfakes with simple text prompts after their late July 2025 launch, prompting regulatory probes across Europe, Australia, and multiple US states. Cities including Baltimore and three Tennessee minors separately sued xAI over Grok's deepfake outputs.
The federal alternative
xAI argues the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act—signed by President Donald Trump in May 2025—is the model Minnesota should have adopted. That law covers nonconsensual intimate deepfakes but requires proof of nonconsent and actual distribution, uses a narrower body-part definition, and includes carve-outs for education and medical content. Minnesota passed HF 1606 with overwhelming support (132-1 in the House, 65-0 in the Senate) after a man used social media photos to generate 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 Keith Ellison countered: "AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and can cause immense harm on an emotional, personal, and professional level."
