xAI sues Minnesota in first federal challenge to state deepfake bans

xAI's July 27 lawsuit against Minnesota's HF 1606 is the first federal challenge to a state law categorically banning nudify apps — tools that generate nonconsensual explicit deepfakes. The law, effective August 1, penalizes developers $500,000 per image. xAI calls it an "overbroad, content-based ban on free speech." The ruling could shape how 31 states with deepfake laws regulate these tools.