Appeals court pauses Minnesota AI nudification ban in xAI case

The appeals court’s action pauses Minnesota’s ban on AI-generated fake nude images while xAI pursues its lawsuit, Reuters reported.[1] The case is not described as a final decision on whether the law is constitutional: xAI’s lawsuit alleges that it is unconstitutional, and the halt came while that challenge was ongoing.[1] Reuters characterized Minnesota’s measure as the first-in-the-nation ban of its kind.[1] For organizations assessing the legal status of the restriction, the key distinction is between a halt during litigation and a final resolution of the challenge.

Minnesota’s court filing says xAI filed a motion on July 29, 2026.[2] It also says the district court denied xAI’s request for a temporary restraining order and found that xAI’s delay in filing weighed against its claim that harm was immediate.[2] The court said an expedited schedule was warranted and set a hearing on xAI’s preliminary-injunction motion for August 19, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.[2] These district-court details provide a separate procedural track from the appeals-court halt reported by Reuters.[1]

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed an opposition to xAI’s latest attempt to block the law, according to the state filing.[3] The filing says the legislature passed the Nudification Ban nearly unanimously.[4] The state argued that xAI had not shown irreparable harm and had alleged only financial harm.[4] It also argued that the public interest and balance of harms favored Minnesota.[4] These are the state’s arguments in the litigation, not a ruling on the merits of xAI’s constitutional claim.

To support its position, Minnesota’s filing quoted research reporting that 96% of manipulated images in 2023 were nonconsensual, sexually explicit images featuring women.[4] The filing also cited information reporting that Nudify apps had more than 24 million users in a single month.[4] It cited information that 16 nudify websites received 200 million visits in the first half of 2024.[4] Those figures were presented in the state’s filing; they do not determine the outcome of xAI’s lawsuit or establish how the courts will rule.