Judge rejects X.AI’s request to halt Minnesota’s AI nudification ban - KEYC News Now

SAINT PAUL, Minn. (KEYC) – On Friday, courts rejected X.AI’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), that would have halted the enforcement of Minnesota’s bipartisan ban on AI nudification.

The ban was notably passed with bipartisan support in the House and the Senate earlier this year. In total, 197 lawmakers voted in favor of the ban, while only one voted against it.

X.AI then challenged the law, which would have banned the use of technology to generate fake nude images of real people.

“I am extremely proud to be defending this law, and along with it, the dignity of the people of Minnesota,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said. “Minnesota’s landmark law banning the use of nudification technology will go into effect tomorrow as planned. These nudification apps, including Grok Imagine, have been used to generate child sexual abuse materials and harass people in the vilest ways imaginable. That repulsive behavior is not welcome in Minnesota.”

X.AI reportedly sued the state of Minnesota on Monday, July 27, challenging the state’s nudification ban, which is set to take effect on Saturday, August 1. On Wednesday, July 29, X.AI asked the court for a temporary restraining order, which would have halted the enforcement of the law.

AG Keith Ellison noted that X.AI had waited until just a few days before the law was set to take effect to file its motion for a TRO. The attorney general argued since X.AI had waited months to challenge the law, emergency action by the court was “clearly unnecessary.”

Ultimately, the court agreed, and wrote in its opinion, “X.AI filed the motion on July 29, 2026, nearly three months after the law was signed, and only three days before the law is set to take effect. Such a delay in bringing the action and the motion suggests that harm is not immediate.”

AG Ellison, in his filing, also called attention to why the law is needed:

“Minnesota’s Nudification Ban applies to AI-generated sexual images and other intimate parts—including the staggering amount child sexual abuse material that AI products like Grok Imagine generate. Indeed, several recent lawsuits have been filed against X.AI about this exact issue. Five children brought a class action against X.AI alleging that their photographs were used to create child porn on Grok Imagine. Two Arkansas families have sued X.AI in Arkansas federal court alleging that Grok was used to generate child porn of their daughters, who are under 15 years old. And a UK lawmaker who criticized X.AI owner, Elon Musk, sued the company because Grok users created fake images of her ‘being chlorophormed and prepared for sexual assault.’"

The attorney general’s office stated the court set upcoming briefings and a hearing later in the month of August, and that it will continue to defend the law and the “Minnesotans it was written to protect from X.AI’s lawsuit.”

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