Judge refuses xAI's request to stop a Minnesota law banning 'nudify' apps

A federal judge has denied xAI's motion for a preliminary injunction that would have paused a recently enacted Minnesota law prohibiting "nudify" applications - tools that use generative AI to digitally remove clothing from images of real people without their consent. The ruling means the law stays in force as litigation continues.

xAI, the AI company founded by Elon Musk, filed its lawsuit only days before seeking the emergency block, arguing the Minnesota statute raises constitutional concerns. The company's core claim appears to center on First Amendment grounds, a legal argument that has been tested in other contexts involving AI-generated content but has yet to produce settled precedent at the federal level.

Minnesota's law is part of a broader wave of state-level legislation targeting non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) produced by AI. Several states have moved to regulate or outright ban nudify tools following growing public concern over their use to target women and minors in particular. These apps typically require little technical skill to operate, which has contributed to their spread and the resulting harms reported by victims.

The judge's refusal to grant the injunction is a procedural step rather than a final ruling on the merits of xAI's challenge - the underlying lawsuit will continue through the courts. Still, the decision signals that the court did not find xAI's arguments immediately compelling enough to override the state's interest in enforcing the law. How this case develops could carry weight for how similar statutes in other states are treated, and for where courts ultimately draw the line between AI-generated content and legal protection for individuals depicted without their consent.