By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation ban on AI-generated fake nude images will remain in effect as a constitutional challenge by Elon Musk’s xAI proceeds, after a federal judge on Friday declined to block the law at an early stage of the case.
Musk’s xAI company argues the measure restricts free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution, while Minnesota says the law is narrowly tailored to curb the spread of nonconsensual sexual imagery created with artificial intelligence.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank rejected xAI’s request for a preliminary injunction against the law, which took effect on August 1 and prohibits website operators, software developers and others from allowing users to “nudify” images of identifiable people using AI technology.
Frank’s order said xAI failed to show it would suffer harm while it pursues a lawsuit alleging the new law violates the Constitution’s First Amendment by restricting protected expressive activity.
“The constitutional issues raised by the parties are complex, particularly when considered in the context of this new technology and the risks that it poses to the public,” Frank wrote. “These issues deserve, and will receive, full consideration.”
xAI and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company said in a court filing on Friday that it will appeal the judge’s order to the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, called the state’s law “overwhelmingly bipartisan and nearly unanimously approved” by state lawmakers.
“These nudification apps have been used to generate child sexual abuse materials and harass people in the vilest ways imaginable,” Ellison said in a statement on Friday. “That repulsive behavior is not welcome in Minnesota.”
The judge earlier turned down Musk’s bid in July to stop the law from taking effect but agreed to fast-track his review of the measure.
Musk’s Grok AI chatbot has faced criticism over its creation of sexually explicit content. Regulators have sought stronger safeguards and imposed bans to help curb the spread of artificially created illegal material.
xAI has begun suing users it alleges are evading Grok’s technological blockers to create sexual images of people without their consent.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by Franklin Paul and Howard Goller)
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