Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Minnesota Days Before State Ban on AI Nudification Apps

Jul 30, 2026

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xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company that’s behind Grok, has sued Minnesota just days before the state’s landmark bill banning nudification apps comes into effect.

Minnesota passed the first-in-the-nation law in April, becoming the first state to ban the creation of AI-generated non-consensual intimate images. It is scheduled to become law on August 1.

xAI filed a lawsuit on Monday in a federal court against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, saying that the law is overly broad and expands to body parts that are routinely shown in public.

The 38-page lawsuit says that xAI does not challenge the state’s aims of banning the distribution of AI-generated nude images of real people without their consent. However, it argues that Minnesota’s law “extends far beyond that goal” by prohibiting a wide range of constitutionally protected images and videos while exposing the company to fines of up to $500,000 for each violation.

The complaint says that the statute doesn’t have a “safe harbor” for AI companies that have rules in place prohibiting users from making such images. It also argues that AI companies face liability even if a person makes an image of themselves, or of someone from whom they have consent.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Minnesota AG Ellison hasn’t been served with the lawsuit yet.

“But I know that using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling. There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI policy,” Ellison says. “This is not one of them. AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and can cause immense harm on an emotional, personal, and professional level.”

At the end of last year, xAI announced that Grok had the power to edit any image on the platform, including with its “spicy” mode. This led to an avalanche of unwanted content as women found their faces were being used in explicit images. According to The Verge, over 11 days across the New Year, there were three million such images created, with 23,000 of those depicting children.

xAI says its terms of service prohibit anyone from using Grok for “any illegal, harmful, or abusive activities”, including using a person’s image to nudify them. The company added earlier this year that it has “zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.”

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