The Justice Department is backing xAI against Minnesota’s nudify ban

The DOJ filed a statement of interest supporting xAI’s lawsuit against Minnesota’s HF 1606, a law banning AI “nudification” tools and imposing up to $500,000 penalties under a strict-liability rule. xAI claims the law is overly broad, lacks carve-outs for consent, artistic expression, or parody, and could punish lawful self-nudification. The DOJ argues that federal statutes such as the PROTECT Act and the TAKE IT DOWN Act provide narrower, notice-and-removal standards that better balance abuse prevention with free speech.