Elon Musk's xAI successfully halts effort to ban AI-generated fake nudes | RNZ

3 October 2026, 11:56am Elon Musk's xAI successfully halts effort to ban AI-generated fake nudes From Caption: xAI alleges the measure restricts free speech protected by the US Constitution. Photo credit: JONATHAN RAA / AFP Elon Musk's xAI on Friday (local time) persuaded a US federal appeals court to halt Minnesota's first-in-the-nation ban on AI-generated fake nude images as the technology and social media company pursues a lawsuit alleging that the law is unconstitutional. The St Louis-based 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in its order put the law on hold for now, granting a request for an injunction by xAI. A lower court judge last month had rejected Musk's bid for an order stopping the law. The state's anti-"nudification" law, which took effect on 1 August, prohibits website operators, software developers and others from allowing users to create realistic images depicting an intimate body part that is not shown in an original photo of an identifiable individual. xAI alleges the measure restricts free speech protected by the US Constitution. Minnesota and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. US District Judge Donovan Frank ruled last month that xAI had not shown it would suffer irreparable harm while challenging the law and said the company had waited too long to seek emergency relief. Elon Musk. AFP / Brendan Smialowski In its appeal, xAI disputed the judge's finding that it delayed bringing suit. The company also said its Grok Imagine tool includes "rigorous protections" against creating nudified or sexualised images of real people. xAI has begun suing users whom it alleges are evading Grok's technological blockers to create sexual images of people without their consent . Minnesota had urged the appeals court not to block the law. The state has said it adopted the measure this year to combat the spread of what it called a "staggering amount [of] child sexual abuse material that AI products like Grok Imagine generate". - Reuters 3 October 2026, 11:56am Print