A federal judge has declined to stop Minnesota from enforcing its new law banning "nudify" apps — software that digitally strips clothing from images of real people — clearing the way for the measure to take effect.
Elon Musk's xAI had filed suit only days earlier seeking to halt the law, according to Engadget. TechCrunch reports that the judge denied the request, meaning the Minnesota ban can move forward despite the company's challenge.
Per Techmeme's summary of NBC News reporting, the judge denied xAI's request on Friday and pointed to the timing: the company came to court just three days before the law was set to take effect. NBC News describes the measure as the first of its kind in the nation and reports the ruling clears the way for it to go into effect on Saturday.
The available reporting does not detail xAI's legal arguments, the specific provisions of the Minnesota statute, or what the company plans to do next.
The stakes here go well beyond one state. "Nudify" tools have proliferated alongside generative AI, and they have been used to produce sexualized images of people — including minors — without consent. Minnesota moving first means other states now have a template, and a live test case, for whether such bans survive court challenges from AI companies.
It also puts a marker down on a broader question: whether the companies building general-purpose AI models can successfully argue that state-level restrictions on specific harmful uses overstep. Losing at this early stage does not decide xAI's underlying lawsuit, but it does mean the law operates while the case proceeds.
Why it matters: this is one of the first real tests of whether states can regulate the most abusive uses of generative AI over the objections of the industry building it.