Trump Administration Backs xAI Against Minnesota Deepfake Law With $500,000-Per-Violation Penalties
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Aug 19
Trump Administration Backs xAI Against Minnesota Deepfake Law With $500,000-Per-Violation Penalties
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Aug 19
Summary
A Justice Department filing on Monday backed xAI’s lawsuit against Minnesota’s HF1606, arguing the state’s deepfake-porn law is unconstitutional and infringes First Amendment protections.
The DOJ said the statute is drafted so broadly it could cover lawful images, and faulted it for allowing fines of up to $500,000 per violation without giving platforms a chance to remove content first.
Minnesota’s law is among the first to let victims sue and impose penalties when AI tools generate sexualized deepfakes, regardless of a platform’s knowledge or consent.
The filing said the administration supports banning AI-generated sexual abuse material but wants that goal balanced against speech rights and a lighter national AI framework instead of what it called 50 conflicting state regimes.
The move fits a broader pattern of Trump administration support for xAI, which it has also backed in a separate NAACP lawsuit over power plants near the Tennessee-Mississippi border.