Published September 5th, 2026 - 11:31 GMT
ALBAWABA - A federal judge on Friday refused to halt the first-in-the-nation statewide ban on fake AI-generated nude photos in Minnesota at an early stage of the case, meaning the rule would remain in force as Elon Musk’s xAI pursues a constitutional challenge.Minnesota says the rule is tightly tailored to prevent the dissemination of non-consensual sexual material made by AI, while xAI says the policy violates free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution, according to Reuters.U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank denied xAI’s request for a preliminary injunction against the statute, which went into force Aug. 1.The regulation prevents website owners, software developers and others from permitting users to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to digitally “undress” photos of identifiable people.Frank said xAI had not shown it would be harmed in its attempt to sue over the new regulation, arguing it violates the First Amendment by curtailing protected expressive activities.“The constitutional issues raised by the parties are complex, especially in view of the context of this new technology and the risk it presents to the public,” Frank wrote, but said the issues deserved and would receive thorough attention. xAI and its lawyers did not immediately reply to demands for comment.The corporation said in a court filing Friday it plans to appeal the judge’s ruling to the St. Louis-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.The measure has "overwhelming bipartisan support and near-unanimous approval" from state lawmakers, said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat.“These nudification apps have been used to create child sexual exploitation material and to harass people in the most horrific ways imaginable,” Ellison said in a statement Friday. “This is disgusting behavior and is not tolerated in Minnesota.”The judge rejected Musk's effort in July to block enforcement of the law but agreed to fast-track judicial review of the policy.Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has been criticized for generating sexually inappropriate content.Regulators have increasingly called for more robust controls and limits to stop the spread of illicit synthetic content developed using artificial intelligence.
