Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, X.AI, has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota, asserting that the state's recently enacted law prohibiting the use of AI to generate nonconsensual nude deepfakes violates the First Amendment.
The lawsuit contends that the Minnesota law imposes an "overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression." X.AI argues that the statute is an "clumsy attempt to prohibit 'nudification'" and that it already enforces strict policies against users generating nude or sexualized images of individuals without consent.
According to the lawsuit, while Minnesota has a legitimate interest in preventing the creation and distribution of nonconsensual nude imagery, the statute unfairly penalizes AI platforms for facilitating the creation of a significant amount of protected speech in relation to this limited objective.
The law, scheduled to take effect on Saturday, permits victims to pursue damages from the owners of nudification applications. It also grants the state's attorney general the authority to impose fines of up to $500,000 per violation.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded to the lawsuit, stating, "Using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling. There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI. This is not one of them. AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and could cause them immense harm on many levels." Ellison added, "I’ll see X in court."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also commented on the lawsuit via a social media post, echoing the sentiment that generating nonconsensual nude images with AI is appalling.