Judge denies xAI’s request to block Minnesota ban on ‘nudify’ apps

A federal judge in Minnesota has rejected a request from xAI to stop the state from enforcing a ban on applications that generate non-consensual nude images. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ruled that the company filed its lawsuit for a temporary restraining order too late to prevent the law from taking effect on August 1. The filing occurred on July 29, nearly three months after the legislation was signed. Frank noted that such a delay suggests any potential harm is not immediate. This decision allows the ban to proceed while the legal challenge continues. xAI argued the measure is overinclusive and that less restrictive options exist. The conflict follows an earlier incident where users of Elon Musk’s social media platform X flooded the site with sexually explicit images generated by the Grok chatbot. Those events prompted investigations and subsequent restrictions on the technology. The ruling does not determine the final legality of the statute but permits enforcement during the ongoing litigation.
* The ban is the first of its kind in the United States.
* xAI claims the law fails to account for less restrictive alternatives.
* The lawsuit will continue in federal court despite this interim ruling.