xAI Sues Minnesota Over Law Targeting AI Undressing in Grok

Elon Musk's xAI has sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, asking the court to declare unconstitutional the state's law against "nudification" apps, which Minnesota passed in May 2025. xAI argues the law violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution and effectively forces the company to restrict the image-editing features of its Grok Imagine service.

What the lawsuit is about

xAI is challenging HF1606, one of the first US laws aimed squarely at apps that use AI to "undress" people in photos. The company insists that the law's punitive provisions leave it no practical choice and infringe on free speech.

• Plaintiff: xAI; defendant: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
• Law at issue: HF1606, passed by the state in May 2025
• Basis of the suit: violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution
• Product in dispute: the Grok Imagine image editor
• Reason for the regulation: the wave of AI deepfakes in early 2026

"The company has no practical choice but to restrict

Grok Imagine's image-editing features in various ways," xAI says in its complaint.

In effect, xAI is acknowledging that the threat of sanctions will force it to cut back the product's capabilities, but it places the blame on the state law rather than on its own moderation system.

What happened with Grok in January

In January 2026, Grok flooded the internet with millions of sexually explicit deepfakes. According to The New York Times, some of them depicted minors. It was one of the largest content-moderation failures among AI products in recent memory.

As The Verge notes, in another era a scandal of this scale would have pushed a company's chief executive to pull the product within hours. But xAI under Musk took a different route: instead of emergency-disabling the features, the company is challenging the very law that restricts them.

Why it matters

The clash between xAI and Minnesota tests where the line falls between free speech and protection against AI abuse. Minnesota became one of the first states to legislate against nudification apps. If the court sides with xAI and finds that the law violates the First Amendment, it would make it harder to pass similar laws in other states.

What this means

The dispute moves the AI deepfake problem out of the realm of content moderation and into constitutional law: xAI chose to sue the regulator rather than disable the contested features itself. The outcome will set the framework for future US laws against AI undressing.

Frequently asked questions

What are nudification apps?

They are apps and services that use AI to "undress" people in ordinary photos, producing fake nude images. Minnesota's HF1606 is aimed squarely at such tools.

Why is xAI suing Minnesota?

xAI considers the law against nudification apps a violation of the First Amendment and says its punitive provisions force the company to restrict the Grok Imagine image editor. The defendant in the suit is the state's attorney general, Keith Ellison.

What happened with Grok in January 2026?

In January 2026, Grok generated millions of explicit deepfakes, including, according to The New York Times, images of minors. That is the backdrop to the current legal dispute.