Minnesota Enacts Landmark Ban on AI Nudification Apps with Strict Penalties

Minnesota has become the first US state to enact legislation prohibiting the distribution of applications designed to generate non-consensual intimate imagery, commonly referred to as fake AI nudes. Passed unanimously by the state Senate with a vote of 65–0, the law targets commercial services that allow users to sexualise images of real people with minimal technical skill. The legislation is expected to be signed by Governor Tim Walz, with enforcement anticipated to commence in August.

The new statute imposes severe financial penalties on developers, allowing the state attorney general to levy fines of up to $500,000 for every flagged image generated by offending software. In addition to monetary penalties, the law authorises the blocking of prohibited products within the state. Crucially, any revenue collected from these fines will be directed toward funding support services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.

Democratic Senator Erin Maye Quade introduced the bill following a specific local incident where a man generated fake nudes of more than 80 women from his social circle. Previous legal avenues, such as the Take It Down Act and existing revenge porn laws, were deemed ineffective because there was no evidence the images were shared publicly, making it difficult to prove ill intent. The legislation aims to address the harm at the point of creation via machine learning models rather than relying on post-distribution takedown requests.

To ensure the law did not inadvertently impact legitimate commercial software, the nonprofit RAINN assisted in drafting the legislation and consulted with tech companies during the process. This collaboration helped clarify that the ban specifically targets services accessible to users with minimal technical skill, while explicitly exempting tools that demand advanced user expertise. Senator Quade noted that the law protects women, children, and everyone in public life from the harm caused by AI nudification technology available for free online.

Despite the state's progress, challenges remain regarding enforcement against overseas operators. The service used in the local incident, DeepSwap, is operated overseas with claimed bases in Hong Kong and Dublin, highlighting the difficulty a single state faces in regulating foreign apps. Advocates have noted that a federal ban would be preferable to overcome these jurisdictional hurdles, though state-level action remains a critical first step.

Concerns also persist regarding potential federal deregulation efforts that could undermine state-level safeguards. If the US government were to block state laws requiring AI safeguards, the Minnesota law could become ineffective. Furthermore, researchers estimate that AI models like Grok continue to generate thousands of harmful images hourly, contradicting earlier claims that such functionality had been removed. Nashville police recently charged a suspect for using Grok to generate child sex abuse material between September 2025 and March 2026, underscoring the ongoing risks in the technology landscape.