xAI sues Minnesota over law targeting AI nudification apps

In short: Elon Musk’s xAI filed a lawsuit to block a Minnesota law that would penalize AI tools for making “nudified” images.

What happened

xAI, the company behind the Grok chatbot and its image tools, sued the state of Minnesota on Monday. The company is trying to stop a new state law that bans “nudification” technology, meaning tools that can edit an image to make a person look nude.

The Minnesota law is set to take effect on August 1. It allows fines of up to $500,000 for each harmful image found in the state. It also lets victims sue over each image. xAI argued that these penalties could quickly become enormous, even if the image was only seen by the person who generated it.

The lawsuit comes after arrests and multiple civil lawsuits connected to people accused of using Grok to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM, sexual images of children). xAI says it is already taking action by suing users who allegedly bypass its safety rules. It argues this should help show it is not responsible for what users create.

xAI also says Minnesota’s law is too broad. The company argues it could cover non-sexual images, such as shirtless men or people in swimsuits, because of how the law defines “intimate parts.” xAI says the law could also apply even if the person in the image consented, and even if the image was never shared.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told Ars Technica the state plans to defend the law. He said generating nude images of people without consent is harmful and degrading.

Why it matters

This case could shape how far states can go in forcing AI image tools to block certain types of content, and who pays when those tools are used to harm people.

Source: Arstechnica