All Rise News is reporting live today from Washington, D.C. for a hearing in the case of former Olympian David Hearn — the first one since prosecutors admitted that a “botched” construction job damaged the Reflecting Pool.
Don’t miss the reporting from the courthouse.
Elon Musk’s company xAI lost its latest request to block a Minnesota “nudification” ban, a state law designed to clamp down on platforms used to create deepfake pornography.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank’s rejection of a preliminary injunction is also a defeat for the Trump Justice Department, which backed xAI in the litigation.
“The State has enacted, democratically and nearly unanimously, a civil statute aimed at protecting the public from the undisputed harm stemming from AI-nudification technology and the resulting proliferation of photorealistic sexualized images,” the judge wrote in a 14-page order. “It is evident, and xAI does not dispute, that the state has an interest in curbing the generation of those images. The state’s choice to prohibit the provision of AI tools to users who create such images is a direct response to the unique harms stemming from the new technology and the state’s conclusion that curtailing user violations after harmful images are circulated is not enough.”
Every Minnesota lawmaker, except for one, voted in favor of the state’s ban, which imposes fines of up to $500,000 per violation for platforms that allow users to “nudify” images.
Musk’s company filed a lawsuit alleging that the law violated the First Amendment, and the Trump administration supported xAI, arguing that the Minnesota law went much farther than its federal counterparts and could stifle artificial intelligence technology.
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.
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.
“AI-nudification technology has resulted in a flood of sexualized images and allowed the harmful images to spread online and, in many cases, remain online forever,” the order notes. “At a Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee hearing, the Senior Legislative Policy Counsel for RAINN submitted the results of a study conducted after a social media site launched an AI tool allowing users to edit images and post the images with one click. This study examined images created in the first 11 days after the AI tool was launched and found that approximately 65 percent of the photos created were photorealistic sexualized images—amounting to a total of 3 million such images at a pace of 190 images per minute. Roughly 23,000 of the sexualized images were of children.”
The judge made clear that the balance could change later.
“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.”
In an interview last month, Minnesota State Rep. Jessica Hanson, the chief author of the legislation, told All Rise News that the state would work to protect victims of deepfake porn regardless of the final outcome of the litigation.
Hanson also scorched the Trump administration for backing Musk’s company in this fight.
“We know that child sexual abuse is prevalent at a time when the Epstein class is present, and people are calling on the federal government to prosecute folks in the Epstein files,” Hanson said. “When the same attorney general who the night before court sent a letter to Minnesota court saying that they were in support of xAI on this and kind of warned us to be careful. That same attorney general is the same one that moved Ghislaine Maxwell into a comfortable prison situation. These coincidences really can't be denied.”
Watch the full interview with Rep. Hanson on Legal AF’s All Rise News playlist, and read the judge’s order in full here.
Good. The Court made the right decision. The A.I. generated deepfake porn could be used against anyone. People don't realize you could take your child out to the park, someone could photograph him/her and then they could use the A.I. to make images that are horrific. No, totally unacceptable and I pray this decision goes across the U.S.
We don't need people with unhealthy habits in our Country, doing this.
That is why we want the full disclosure of the Epstein files and the names of those that abused young children. Let the world know!
As always excellent reporting Adam on serious cases. Thank you for all you do to stay on top of how these cases are preceding.