ST. PAUL, Minn. (Northern News Now) – A judge has denied Elon Musk’s xAI request to temporarily block Minnesota’s new ban on artificial intelligence tools used to create fake nude images of real people.
FILE – Elon Musk attends a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)(Julia Demaree Nikhinson | AP)
The law will take effect Saturday, Aug. 1, as scheduled.
xAI sued Minnesota on July 27 and requested a temporary restraining order two days later. Attorney General Keith Ellison argued the company failed to demonstrate that immediate court intervention was necessary.
The judge agreed, noting xAI waited nearly three months after the law was signed and filed its request only three days before it was set to take effect.
The bipartisan law passed the Minnesota Legislature with 197 lawmakers voting in favor and one opposing it.
Ellison said nudification software has been used to harass people and generate child sexual abuse material. His office cited several lawsuits alleging xAI’s Grok platform was used to create sexually explicit images of children and adults without their consent.
“These nudification apps, including Grok Imagine, have been used to generate child sexual abuse materials and harass people in the vilest ways imaginable,” Ellison said.
The court scheduled additional filings and a hearing for later in August as xAI’s broader challenge to the law continues.
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