Attorney General Keith Ellison (D-Minn) AP file photo
SAINT PAUL, M.N. (KFGO) – A court has rejected a request by tech company X.AI to block Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation ban on artificial intelligence nudification software, clearing the way for the law to take effect Saturday as scheduled.
The court denied X.AI’s motion for a temporary restraining order on Friday, siding with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who argued against halting enforcement of the legislation.
X.AI filed a lawsuit challenging the law on July 27 and sought an emergency restraining order two days later. However, the court ruled that because X.AI waited nearly three months after the law was signed to file its motion, just three days before its effective date, the company failed to demonstrate that emergency harm was immediate.
The bipartisan law, which passed the Minnesota Legislature with near-unanimous support on a 197-1 vote, prohibits the use of technology designed to generate fake, nonconsensual nude images of real people.
Ellison praised the ruling, emphasizing the need to protect state residents from digital harassment and deepfake imagery.
“Minnesota’s landmark law banning the use of nudification technology will go into effect tomorrow as planned,” Ellison said. “These nudification apps, including Grok Imagine, have been used to generate child sexual abuse materials and harass people in the vilest ways imaginable.”
In legal filings opposing the restraining order, Ellison highlighted several ongoing lawsuits against X.AI involving its Grok Imagine tool, including a class-action suit brought by five minors and federal filings in Arkansas alleging the software was used to create child sexual abuse material.
The court has scheduled further briefings and a full hearing for later in August, where the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office plans to continue defending the statute.
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