Minnesota wins early victory over xAI in lawsuit to ban AI creation of nude images
Quick Look
- The federal district court in Minnesota handed the state an early victory by rejecting a preliminary injunction filed by AI company xAI to suspend the law banning the creation of nude images.
- The law is characterized by holding responsibility not only for users but also for technology providers, and a civil penalty of $500,000 per violation is imposed. xAI filed an unconstitutional lawsuit claiming infringement on freedom of expression, but the court dismissed it due to lack of proof of damage and delay in filing the application.
- The state of Minnesota and the federal Department of Justice supported the law and expressed concern about its harmful effects, including the creation of child sexual exploitation material.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The state of Minnesota has prepared a bill banning the creation of nude or sexual images using AI, and has imposed a civil penalty of $500,000 per case, including provisions that hold not only users but also technology providers accountable.
(Los Angeles = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kyung-yoon Kim = The U.S. state of Minnesota won an early victory in a legal battle with artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI over a law banning the creation of nude images.
Reuters reported on the 4th (local time) that the Minnesota Federal District Court dismissed xAI's injunction to suspend Minnesota House Bill 1606.
The characteristic of this law is that it holds not only users but also technology providers accountable in order to strongly prohibit the creation of nude or sexual images using AI technology.
Accordingly, if a Minnesota resident accesses or downloads an AI service to create a nude image, the application (app) or website operator that allowed this will also be subject to a civil penalty of $500,000 (approximately 670 million won) per case.
However, xAI, led by Elon Musk, filed an unconstitutional lawsuit, claiming that the law infringes on freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment.
xAI's AI model, 'Grock', has been evaluated as being easy to create sexually explicit content among many AI models.
Judge Donovan Frank pointed out that xAI failed to prove that it would suffer damage from the law and that it only applied for a preliminary injunction right before the bill went into effect.
Various harmful effects caused by AI's nude image technology, such as non-consensual sexual exploitation, were also mentioned as background to the dismissal.
xAI immediately announced its intention to appeal.
The Minnesota state government is opposing xAI's unconstitutionality lawsuit and is maintaining its stance that it cannot back down.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the nude video app could no longer be allowed in Minnesota, saying it had been abused to create child sexual exploitation material and harass people.
Meanwhile, the federal government also got involved in this legal battle.
The Justice Department submitted a statement of interest to the court that contained most of xAI's claims that Minnesota law violates freedom of expression.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
xAI will seek to overturn the decision in the Court of Appeal
Possible · Within months
Minnesota bill could influence legislation in other states
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What are the chances that xAI's appeal will be accepted?
- Will similar bills be pursued in other states?
- What impact will the court ruling have on other AI regulations?
