xAI sued Minnesota to block a first-in-the-nation anti-nudification law before it takes effect Aug. 1.
Why it matters: The case could shape how states regulate AI-generated sexual imagery and how far companies can push back on product restrictions. It also tests whether a broad ban on nudification services can survive a First Amendment challenge.
- xAI filed the federal lawsuit on July 28, 2026, days before Minnesota's law takes effect Aug. 1, 2026.
- Minnesota's Chapter 72 bars websites, apps, software and other services from letting users nudify images or videos.
- The law allows private lawsuits and attorney general enforcement, with civil penalties of up to $500,000 per violation.
- AP reported xAI says the law would force it to restrict Grok Imagine's image-editing features.
xAI sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over a new state law that bans services from letting users nudify images or videos. AP reported the complaint was filed July 28, 2026, just before the law's Aug. 1 effective date, in a challenge that frames the statute as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. AP
Minnesota's Chapter 72 makes it illegal for a person who owns or controls a website, app, software, program or other service to allow users to access, download or use it to nudify an image or video, or to nudify content on behalf of a user. The law also bans advertising or promoting nudification services and creates both private civil remedies and attorney general enforcement. State law text House explainer
AP reported xAI argues the statute is overbroad and content-based, and says Minnesota's penalties would leave it with "no practical choice but to restrict Grok Imagine’s image-editing features in various ways." The company also says the law reaches protected images and videos and does not include a safe harbor for good-faith moderation efforts. AP
The measure sailed through the Minnesota House 132-1 on April 23, 2026, and Gov. Tim Walz signed it May 7. Walz said the law was meant to make clear that using technology to create fake, non-consensual intimate images is unacceptable and to protect Minnesotans from exploitation and abuse. mn.gov
By the numbers
- 132-1 - Minnesota House vote for the bill on April 23, 2026.
- $500,000 - maximum civil penalty per violation under the law.
- Aug. 1, 2026 - date the law takes effect.
Yes, but: The lawsuit's core constitutional arguments are described through AP reporting here, not a directly accessible complaint filing.
What's next: Minnesota's law is set to take effect Aug. 1, 2026, unless the court intervenes.