US appeals court blocks Minnesota law banning AI-generated nude images in xAI lawsuit

On October 2, 2026, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked Minnesota's pioneering law, HF 1606, which bans AI-generated fake nude images. The injunction provides a reprieve for Elon Musk's xAI as it pursues a lawsuit alleging the law violates the First Amendment. While xAI argues the law sweeps too broadly and threatens protected speech, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office expressed disappointment and vowed to defend the statute, which aims to combat non-consensual sexual imagery and child sexual abuse material.

Appeals court ruling and state response

• ▪On October 2, 2026, the St. Louis-based 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted xAI's request for an injunction, temporarily blocking Minnesota's law banning AI-generated fake nude images while xAI's constitutional challenge is litigated.
• ▪On October 2, 2026, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's spokesperson John Stiles stated that Minnesota's nudification ban outlaws AI products from generating sexual images that harm and harass people.
• ▪Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office stated on October 2, 2026, that it is disappointed by the appeals court ruling and will defend the state law as xAI's appeal moves forward.

Minnesota's defense of the law

• ▪Minnesota officials argued that the state adopted HF 1606 to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material generated by AI products like Grok Imagine.
• ▪Minnesota had urged the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals not to block Minnesota's anti-nudification law.

xAI's legal arguments

• ▪xAI argues that Minnesota's HF 1606 sweeps too broadly and endangers art, parody, and consensual imagery alongside the abusive material it was designed to stop.
• ▪Elon Musk's xAI filed a lawsuit, styled X.AI LLC v. Keith Ellison, against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on or around July 27, 2026, alleging that HF 1606 restricts free speech protected by the First Amendment.

xAI's actions regarding Grok Imagine

• ▪xAI stated that its Grok Imagine tool includes rigorous protections against creating nudified or sexualized images of real people.
• ▪xAI has begun suing users whom xAI alleges are evading Grok's technological blockers to create sexual images of people without their consent.

District court rulings

• ▪On July 31, 2026, a federal judge denied xAI's request for a temporary restraining order against Minnesota's HF 1606, one day before the law took effect.
• ▪On September 4, 2026, US District Judge Donovan Frank denied xAI's request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that xAI had not shown irreparable harm and had waited too long to seek emergency relief.

Provisions of HF 1606

• ▪Under Minnesota's HF 1606, civil penalties for generating non-consensual AI-generated intimate images can reach up to $500,000 per occurrence.
• ▪Minnesota's HF 1606 prohibits website operators, software developers, and others from allowing users to create realistic images depicting intimate body parts not shown in an original photo of an identifiable individual.

Passage of HF 1606

• ▪Minnesota's HF 1606 passed the state legislature with near-total agreement, receiving a vote of 197-1.
• ▪Minnesota's anti-nudification law, known as HF 1606, was enacted on May 7, 2026, and took effect on August 1, 2026.

Debatable claims

• ▪Minnesota's ban on AI-generated fake nude images violates the First Amendment
• ▪AI developers should not face liability when users bypass their content filters