AIBRIEF
The 8th Circuit granted Elon Musk's AI company a stay pending appeal roughly a month after a federal judge had rejected the same request, leaving the law's enforcement frozen and its First Amendment fight unresolved.
The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted Elon Musk's xAI an injunction pending appeal, pausing enforcement of Minnesota's ban on AI-generated nonconsensual nude imagery roughly a month after a federal district judge had rejected the same request.
Minnesota's statute (Ch. 72, § 325E.91), which Reuters described as the first such state law in the country, took effect Aug. 1, 2026. The law makes it unlawful to operate a service that allows users to "nudify" identifiable individuals, defined as altering or generating images so a reasonable person would believe they depict an intimate part. Civil penalties run up to $500,000 per access, download, or use, according to the Minnesota House summary. Sponsors Rep. Jessica Hanson and Sen. Erin Maye Quade, both Democrats, framed the bill as a victim-protection tool for nonconsensual intimate imagery.
The appellate stay leaves that enforcement on hold while xAI pursues a First Amendment challenge in xAI LLC v. Ellison. The 8th Circuit's order addresses interim posture, not the merits, and dissolves if xAI loses on appeal. Reporting: Mike Scarcella at Reuters.