SpaceX's xAI Sues State Over Law Targeting 'Nudify' Apps

Elon Musk's AI outfit is taking Minnesota to court over a law that hasn't even kicked in yet. SpaceX-owned xAI on Monday sued state Attorney General Keith Ellison, arguing that Minnesota's new crackdown on "nudify" apps tramples the First Amendment by imposing an overly broad, content-based restriction on AI image tools, reports CNBC. The law, set to start on Saturday, is directed at apps and sites that let users generate nonconsensual sexual images, with fines of $500,000 per explicit deepfake.

Lawyers for xAI say that could theoretically add up to $50 billion in penalties for a company that churns out 100,000 such banned images. The company, which is also facing a proposed class-action suit over alleged child sexual abuse imagery created with its Grok tools, says it already bans nonconsensual sexual content and sues users who try to circumvent safeguards.

xAI previously won a partial victory against a similar California law. Ellison, however, seems unfazed by xAI's pushback, per Minnesota Public Radio. "There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI. This is not one of them," Ellison wrote on X on Tuesday, calling such nonconsensual activity "appalling." "AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and could cause them immense harm on many levels. I'll see X in court."