Minnesota is fighting Elon Musk's xAI over its attempt to block HF-1606, a first-of-its-kind state law targeting AI tools that generate realistic sexual images of identifiable people, as a federal judge prepares to hear the case Wednesday.

The dispute turns on whether the law regulates speech or technology: xAI contends the measure violates the First Amendment, while Minnesota argues that Grok Imagine is a technological tool rather than protected expression.

In a Friday court filing, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that xAI is unlikely to succeed in its constitutional challenge and has failed to show that enforcing the law would cause irreparable harm.

"With Grok Imagine, X.AI has created an unparalleled marketplace for digital sexual violence that poses virtually no barrier to entry," Ellison wrote. "That marketplace, coupled with the functional capabilities of Grok Imagine, would doom Minnesota from the start if it could not direct its laws to the technology that makes digital sexual victimization possible in the first place."

The Law and the Lawsuit

The law, enacted in April and effective August 1, prohibits platforms and software developers from allowing users to create realistic images showing intimate body parts that did not appear in the original image of an identifiable person. Violations carry penalties of up to $500,000 per image.

Ahead of the law's implementation, xAI sued Ellison in July to block it, arguing that it violates the First Amendment and could apply to protected images, including shirtless men, swimmers, and political satire. The case is being watched closely because it could help define how far states can go in regulating AI-generated intimate imagery, an issue that has drawn concern from lawmakers and platforms as the tools have become easier to use.

"There is no safe harbor for good-faith efforts of the provider of general-purpose AI creative tools to avoid harms," xAI wrote in its complaint. "Liability attaches even if the depicted persons consented—or created the image themselves—and even if the image is never shared."

Legislative Backdrop

Minnesota passed the measure 132-1 in the House and 65-0 in the Senate after lawmakers heard reports of a man who used social media photos to create sexual images of more than 80 women he knew.

"Today, we led the nation protecting women, children and everyone in public life from the harm caused by AI nudification technology," Senator Maye Quade, who led the push, said in a statement at the time. "Companies that make this technology available for free online and in app stores will no longer be allowed to enable predators who abuse and victimize adults and children with the click of a button."

Broader Scrutiny of Grok

Grok has also faced scrutiny over sexually explicit deepfakes. In January, a watchdog estimated that Grok generated more than 23,000 sexualized images of children over 11 days, prompting investigations in several countries.

In March, three minors in California joined others in suing xAI, alleging that Grok was used to turn their photos into AI-generated child sexual abuse material. xAI has said it suspended more than 50,000 accounts and filed more than 70,000 reports with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2026.