xAI v. Ellison

On May 7, 2026 Minnesota’s Governor Tim Waltz signed into law House File 1606. The new law makes it unlawful for a website, app, or other service to allow a user to “nudify” an image or video of an “identifiable individual” to depict an “intimate part if it was not so depicted in the original unaltered image or video, and if the altered image or video is so realistic a reasonable person would believe the intimate part belongs to the identifiable individual.” xAI filed a lawsuit challenging the statute on First Amendment grounds and moved for a preliminary injunction to enjoin its enforcement.

The statute has numerous defects, primarily that it is not narrowly tailored as required when a law is content-based, as is this one. Its failure of narrow tailoring is particularly acute because there are numerous laws which already govern distribution of non-consensual AI-created content, including identifiable individuals. The statute also does not have an exception for consensual modifications, and its description of “intimate parts” is so broad it includes non-sexualized images, as exemplified by the extent to which it would apply to the notable meme of Donald Trump and other government officials floating in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as included in the complaint. It is also flawed because it imposes strict liability, i.e., does not require the platform to have knowledge of the unlawful activity. 

Because the law would chill a substantial amount of protected speech, FIRE joined the First Amendment Lawyers Association and Woodhull Freedom Foundation in an amicus brief in support of xAI, which even though the court did not grant leave to during the fast-moving preliminary injunction proceedings, explained how concerns over the law far transcend the plaintiff.