The judge who ruled against xAI wrote, in the same order, that he hasn't decided yet whether the law is even constitutional.
“Headlines report that Elon Musk's xAI 'lost' its bid to block Minnesota's AI-nudification law after U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank denied its request for a preliminary injunction on September 4, 2026.”
Coverage of the ruling (allrisenews.com, thenews.com.pk, et al.); the judge's own order reaches no First Amendment merits decision, 4 September 2026
Recorded 7 September 2026. Our ruling means: literally true, materially misleading.
In the future, the Court may also consider whether xAI is entitled to permanent injunctive relief on the merits," he wrote. "Until then, because xAI has not demonstrated irreparable harm and the balance of harms tips steeply in favor of the State, xAI's motion for a preliminary injunction is denied.
Judge Frank found that his ultimate determination on the First Amendment issues would come later, but the “balance of the equities” meant protecting victims by allowing the law to remain in force as litigation continues.
Certain free-speech groups — including the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and the Foundation on Individual Rights and Expression — believed that some of the language in the law went too far.
Lawyers for Elon Musk's xAI filed suit against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, arguing that the statute is overly broad, infringes upon First Amendment protections for protected speech, satire, and creative expression, and places an unfair liability burden on platform developers rather than solely prosecuting bad-actor users.
A federal judge in St. Paul on Friday denied an emergency request to block a Minnesota law banning artificial intelligence technology that can depict a person naked without their permission.
Minnesota's legislation (House File 1606) stands as a first-of-its-kind state statute. It penalizes platforms and creators of AI tools built or marketed to digitally undress individuals or generate explicit, non-consensual deepfake imagery, empowering the state Attorney General to levy steep penalties up to $500,000 per violation.
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