Musk's Attempt to Block 'Nude Synthesis Ban Law' Frustrated... Court Rejects Injunction

Musk's Attempt to Block 'Nude Synthesis Ban Law' Frustrated... Court Rejects Injunction

The U.S. state of Minnesota has gained an early advantage in its 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 request for a preliminary injunction to suspend the effect of Minnesota House Bill 1606.

This law is characterized by holding not only users but also technology providers responsible for strongly prohibiting the creation of nude or sexual images using AI technology.

Accordingly, if a Minnesota resident accesses or downloads an AI service to create nude images, the operators of the applications (apps) or websites that allowed this will also be subject to a civil penalty of 500,000 dollars (approximately 670 million KRW) per instance.

However, xAI, led by Elon Musk, filed a constitutional lawsuit, claiming that the law infringes upon freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.

xAI's AI model, 'Grok,' has been evaluated as being particularly easy to generate sexually explicit content among various AI models.

Judge Donovan Frank pointed out that xAI failed to prove that it would suffer harm from the law and that it filed for an injunction only just before the law was to take effect.

Various harms caused by AI's nude image technology, such as non-consensual sexual exploitation material, were also cited as reasons for the dismissal.

xAI immediately announced its intention to appeal.

The Minnesota state government is resisting xAI's constitutional challenge and maintaining its stance that it will not back down.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated that nude synthesis apps have been misused to create child sexual exploitation material and harass people, and that this can no longer be tolerated in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the federal government has also intervened in this legal dispute.

The Department of Justice submitted a statement of interest to the court, largely echoing xAI's argument that the Minnesota state law infringes upon freedom of speech.