Judge denies xAI bid to block Minnesota nudify app ban
Original: Judge denies xAI’s request to block Minnesota ban on ‘nudify’ apps
Why This Matters
The case sets a precedent for state-level AI content regulation and non-consensual imagery laws in the U.S.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank denied xAI's request for a temporary restraining order against Minnesota's first-in-the-nation ban on 'nudify' apps, allowing the law to take effect August 1, 2026, while xAI's lawsuit continues.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank rejected xAI's request to block a Minnesota law banning apps that allow users to 'nudify' images, ruling that the law could take effect as scheduled on August 1, 2026. The judge's ruling focused heavily on the timing of xAI's legal challenge: the company filed its request for a temporary restraining order on July 29, 2026 — nearly three months after the law was signed and just three days before it was set to take effect. Frank wrote that 'such a delay in bringing the action and the motion suggests that harm is not immediate.' The ruling does not end xAI's lawsuit; it only means the law remains in force while litigation proceeds. In its suit, xAI argued the ban — described as the first of its kind in the United States — is 'overinclusive' and that 'far less restrictive alternatives' exist to achieve the same goals. The case follows a widely reported incident earlier in 2026 in which users of Elon Musk's platform X used xAI's Grok chatbot to generate and spread non-consensual sexualized images, prompting investigations and bans. Both X and xAI are now part of SpaceX.