“Minnesota’s nudification ban outlaws AI technology products from generating sexual images that harm and harass people in the vilest way possible,” Ellison’s office said in a press release.
Elon Musk-owned xAI has convinced a federal appeals court to stop Minnesota from enforcing its first-in-the-nation ban on AI-generated nude images of real people.
According to Reuters, the ruling was issued Friday by the St. Louis, Missouri-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. The decision does not end the lawsuit; instead, it instructs Minnesota to refrain from enforcement until the case has been resolved.
Earlier this year, a lower court rejected xAI’s bid for a similar preliminary injunction.
“The state has enacted, democratically and nearly unanimously, a civil statute aimed at protecting the public from the undisputed harm stemming from AI-nudification technology and the resulting proliferation of photorealistic sexualized images,” U.S. District Judge Frank Donovan said in his August ruling.
Reuters notes that Minnesota’s so-called “anti-nudification” law took effect on August 1. It prohibits website operators, software developers, and other entities from allowing users to create realistic images depicting intimate body parts that are not visible in the original, unaltered photograph.
“This repulsive behavior is not welcome in Minnesota,” state Attorney General Keith Ellison said at the time. “My office and I will continue to vigorously defend the law and the Minnesotans it was designed to protect from xAI’s lawsuit.”
xAI, for its part, claims that the law restricts free speech and could have consequences that extend far beyond “nudified” images. In prior court filings, attorneys said that he company “does not contest Minnesota’s interest in prohibiting the dissemination of artificially generated nude images of real people without their consent,” but said that the law, in its current form, could expose a “wide array of protected speech to civil liability and government sanctions.”
xAI said that, among other things, the Minnesota law makes AI services strictly liable for nudified images regardless of whether or not the platform prohibits users from nudifying images in the first place. The company also claims that the state’s new rule could be used to introduce liability even in instances where the subject of a “nudified” image consented to such use.
Ellison has since said that he is “disappointed” by the appeals court’s ruling.
“Minnesota’s nudification ban outlaws AI technology products from generating sexual images that harm and harass people in the vilest way possible,” Ellison’s office said in a press release.
Sources
Court Says Minnesota Can Now Fine AI Companies That Offer “Nudification” Services
Elon Musk’s xAI sues to stop Minnesota law banning nudification technology
Minnesota sued over nudification law by Elon Musk-led AI company
U.S. appeals court blocks Minnesota law barring ‘nudified’ photos in XAI lawsuit
US appeals court blocks Minnesota law barring ‘nudified’ photos in XAI lawsuit
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