Elon Musk's AI company is suing Minnesota over a new law set to take effect Saturday

Musk's xAI, which runs the AI-chatbot Grok, accuses a Minnesota new law banning "nudification technology" as a violation of the First Amendment due to its content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression.

DFL State Senator Erin Maye Quade wrote the legislation and addressed the lawsuit in an Instagram post.

"Minnesotans do not want to be victimized by big tech, who can make them naked," Quade said.

xAI faces multiple lawsuits regarding Grok's ability to generate non-consensual sexualized deepfakes and child sexual abuse material.

"Our law only protects people from being victims of image-based sexual abuse, and it protects us from companies who profit off of image-based sexual abuse," adds Quade.

The bill, passed in Minnesota during this year's legislative session, would prohibit a user to access, download or use a website, application, software, program or other service to nudify an image or video. The advertising of any such service would also be banned, and a legal avenue is provided for the victim against the violator.

It was passed 132-1 by the House, and 65-0 in the Senate.Rep. Jess Hanson (DFL – Burnsville), House author of the bill, also issued a statement:

“It’s absolutely disgusting that Elon Musk and his xAI are fighting a law designed to protect children from sexual exploitation. Nudification is simply an indefensible tool of AI. As the use of AI continues to grow, so does its potential harms, with nudification features being among the most urgent to address – and that’s exactly why we banned them in Minnesota."

Musk's company argues the law makes them strictly liable regardless of whether it prohibits users from using the tool for nudification and how many mitigations the provider has in place to prevent it.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded to the lawsuit on X, which is also owned by Musk, saying, "See you in court, creep."

Last December, the Trump administration actively challenged state-level artificial intelligence regulations through an Executive Order, "Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence". The policy establishes a Department of Justice AI Litigation Task Force to sue states over AI rules deemed unconstitutional or burdensome to interstate commerce, while tying federal broadband funding compliance to state cooperation.

xAI also is involved in a separate federal lawsuit against Colorado challenging its artificial intelligence anti-discrimination law.