Musk’s x.AI sues Minnesota over ‘nudification’ ban

What happened

Former trillionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company x.AI has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota’s “first-in-the-nation law” banning programs and applications that “create and post deepfake videos or images of people naked without their consent,” said MPR News. Those found in violation of Minnesota’s anti-nudification rule risk fines of “$500,000 for each unlawful access, download or use,” per the law’s text.

Who said what

The AI company did not dispute that the state has “valid interests” in barring the “dissemination of artificially generated nude images of people without their consent,” said Bloomberg Law. Rather, it argued that Minnesota’s rule goes “far beyond that goal” and exposes a “wide array of protected speech to civil liability and government sanctions.”

What next?

Musk’s suit holds that Minnesota’s law is “unconstitutional” and should either be “placed on hold while the case proceeds” or “struck down entirely,” said MPR News. The provision is set to go into effect on August 1. If and when it does, x.AI has threatened to “limit services for users in the state.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up