AI firm xAI challenges Minnesota's broad nudification ban as unconstitutional

xAI, the creator of the Grok AI system, is contesting Minnesota's recent "nudification" ban, asserting that the law's content-based restrictions infringe on free speech because they impose liability without a scienter requirement. The statute prohibits any service from letting users generate or download images that add intimate parts to an existing picture, with only a narrow technical-skill exemption. Unlike early revenge-porn statutes, which were revised to require intentional dissemination after the Minnesota Supreme Court highlighted the need for mens rea in State v. Casillas, the new law offers no such safeguard. xAI emphasizes that the ban also fails to carve out exceptions for images with artistic, political, medical, or educational value.

The company cites the Supreme Court’s R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul decision to illustrate that overbroad regulations can be struck down. While Minnesota argues the measure meets intermediate scrutiny, the plaintiff maintains that the lack of intent requirements makes the statute overly broad and unconstitutional.