Judge blocks xAI bid to halt Minnesota nudification ban

A federal judge has allowed the nation's first state law banning "nudification" technology to take effect, rejecting a last-minute attempt by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, to block its enforcement. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank denied xAI's request for a temporary restraining order on July 31, 2026, permitting the Minnesota statute to become active as scheduled on August 1, 2026, while the company's broader legal challenge proceeds.

The judge's ruling centered on the timing of xAI's legal motion, which was filed on July 29, 2026, just three days before the law was set to take effect and nearly three months after Democratic Governor Tim Walz signed it in May. Judge Frank wrote that such a delay suggested the harm to the company was not immediate. The court has scheduled a hearing for August 19, 2026, to consider xAI's request for a preliminary injunction.

The Minnesota law prohibits any person or entity that owns or controls a website, application, or software from allowing users to "nudify" images of others, defined as altering or generating a depiction of an intimate part not shown in an original image of an identifiable individual. The statute applies...