Judge denies request by Elon Musk’s xAI to block MN nudification ban

Key Points:

• A federal judge denied xAI's request to block Minnesota's new law banning "nudification" technology, ruling there was little immediate harm in allowing the law to take effect as scheduled on Saturday; a hearing on a preliminary injunction is set for August 19.
• Minnesota's law prohibits websites, apps, or software from enabling users to generate or alter images to depict intimate parts not present in the original, with penalties up to $500,000 per violation and allows civil suits by victims, but includes no criminal penalties.
• xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, argues the law is overly broad and infringes on free speech rights, claiming it lacks safe harbor for good-faith efforts to prevent nudification and could ban images with artistic, political, or satirical value.
• The law was prompted by concerns over xAI’s Grok product, which has been criticized for generating sexualized deepfakes without consent, leading to investigations and app store threats; xAI faces class-action lawsuits over alleged nude deepfake creations.
• Free speech groups like the ACLU of Minnesota and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression criticize the law as overly broad, potentially restricting legitimate political satire and expression protected under the First Amendment.