Court Rejects xAI: Minnesota's AI Nudify Law Takes Effect

As of August 1, 2026, Minnesota has a law prohibiting AI services from generating realistic intimate images of real people without their consent. Violations carry a $500,000 fine per generated image. The law covers both fully synthetic and altered images that credibly depict a person in the nude.

1xAI Filed Suit Three Days Before the Law Took Effect — and Lost

On July 29 — three days before the law went into effect — xAI, the maker of Grok, filed suit arguing it was unconstitutional and sought an emergency injunction. Judge Donovan Frank denied the request: the company not only waited too long (the law had passed back in April), but also failed to demonstrate immediate or irreparable harm. A hearing on the merits is scheduled for August 19.

2Why This Matters for the Entire Industry

This is the first time an AI model maker has directly challenged a state deepfake law in court — and suffered an initial defeat. If Minnesota prevails at the August hearing, other states will have a working legal precedent for enacting similar penalties. xAI had already revised Grok's policies in January 2026 following allegations of generating non-compliant content, but violations were still being documented as late as April.