The federal government just picked a side in a fight over AI-generated nude images, and it's not the state trying to ban them.
The US Department of Justice has intervened in a Minnesota court case on behalf of xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, backing its lawsuit to block a state law that bans AI "nudification" tools (software that generates fake nude images of real people). xAI is seeking a preliminary injunction against the law. A federal judge heard arguments on Wednesday and said a ruling would come soon, according to Courthouse News Service.
DOJ involvement in a state regulatory dispute is unusual enough to be the story here on its own. It puts the federal government on record contesting a state's authority to restrict a specific category of AI tool, a fight that's normally left to state legislatures and courts to sort out without Washington weighing in.
Whatever the judge decides, the ruling will likely become the reference point the next time a state tries to write rules for AI image tools.