A new Minnesota law took effect Saturday banning so-called “nudification” apps, including those powered by artificial intelligence, that digitally alter photos of identifiable people to expose intimate body parts.
Under the law, “nudification” is defined as modifying an image of a recognizable person to expose “intimate parts,” a term defined elsewhere in state law as the “primary genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast of a human being.” To qualify as a prohibited nudification tool, the image alteration must be generated with minimal user effort—essentially at the push of a button—rather than through artistic skill or manual editing.
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The law allows victims to sue app providers and imposes civil penalties of up to $500,000 not only for each image generated but also each time the image is accessed, potentially exposing platforms to substantial financial liability if altered images spread widely.
Shortly before the law took effect, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank denied a last-minute request from xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked enforcement of the measure.
In its lawsuit against the Minnesota attorney general, xAI argues that the law is overly broad and could encompass AI-generated images created for satire or other non-malicious purposes. The company cited examples including AI-generated images of Trump administration officials in bathing suits and an image depicting Chris Christie and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker facing each other while wearing what appear to be sumo mawashi.
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“xAI 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,” Judge Frank wrote, adding, “Such a delay in bringing the action and the motion suggests that harm is not immediate.”
Earlier, the Grok chatbot — which had then been xAI’s flagship product — came under fire for creating sexualized images of nonconsenting individuals, including minors. According to previous reports, a feature released on Christmas day, allowed people to pull photos from the social media platform X, including images of real individuals, and digitally modify them to show them in lingerie, bikinis, or partially unclothed. According to Gizmodo, Grok created 23,000 such images of children.
X, which is owned by SpaceX, said the capabilities that enabled this behavior had been curtailed. The statement also mentioned that X’s operators “continue to have zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.”