Minnesota’s “nudification” law punishing artificial intelligence platforms for letting users alter people’s images to depict “intimate parts” is an unconstitutional ban on free speech, the Elon Musk-owned X.AI LLC said in a new lawsuit.

The First Amendment protects against laws like this one that restrict speech based on content, the company said in a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota. It’s presumptively unconstitutional and must be overturned unless the state can show it’s narrowly tailored to advance a compelling government interest through the least restrictive means available, the company said.

X.AI didn’t dispute that the state has valid interests in prohibiting the dissemination of artificially generated nude images of people without their consent, but said the Minnesota law extended “far beyond that goal, exposing a wide array of protected speech to civil liability and government sanctions.”

The provision, which takes effect Aug. 1, threatens companies with fines up to $500,000 each time a user generates or alters an image depicting a person’s genitals, breasts, buttocks, or other sensitive areas, the complaint said.

It’s a strict liability statute that applies regardless of measures the company takes to prevent its Grok Imagine and other tools from being used in this fashion, the complaint also said, and the law contains no safe harbor or makes any exception for images the company itself prohibits.

The provision affects a wide range of speech, the complaint said. “Satirical images restored or animated family photographs, and creative projects that Minnesota users could have made by editing images with Grok Imagine will be affected—not because xAI’s policies permit misuse (they forbid it), but because HF 1606 leaves xAI no choice,” it said.

“Using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D). “AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and can cause immense harm on an emotional, personal, and professional level.”

“There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI policy,” but this isn’t one of them, he said. Ellison added that his office will review the complaint once it’s been served and will respond in court.

Stinson LLP and Eimer Stahl LLP represent X.AI.

The case is X.AI, LLC v. Ellison, D. Minn., No. 26-cv-3425, complaint filed 7/27/26.