Judge refuses to pause Minnesota ban on nudify apps in xAI lawsuit

In short: A federal judge denied xAI’s request to temporarily stop Minnesota’s ban on apps that can “nudify” images, so the law can take effect while the lawsuit continues.

What happened

U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank refused to grant xAI a temporary restraining order, which is a short-term court order meant to pause something while a case is reviewed.

That means Minnesota’s new law targeting “nudify” apps can move forward. These are apps that use AI to change an image to make it look like someone is nude (like a fake photo made by software).

The judge’s decision focused in part on timing. He wrote that xAI filed its request on July 29, 2026, almost three months after the law was signed, and just three days before the law was set to start on August 1. The judge said this kind of delay suggests the harm is not immediate.

The ruling does not end the lawsuit. It only decides that the law does not need to be paused while the court case continues.

In its lawsuit, xAI argued the ban is too broad and that there are less restrictive ways to address the same concerns.

Why it matters

For regular people, this affects how quickly states can restrict tools that can be used to create non-consensual sexual images, meaning sexual images made or altered without someone’s permission. The case is also a signal that courts may look closely at how fast companies act when they say a new law will cause urgent harm.

Source: TechCrunch AI