Minnesota passes ban on fake AI nudes; app makers risk $500K fines

This week, Minnesota became the first state to pass a law banning nudification apps that make it easy to “undress” or sexualize images of real people.

Under the law, developers of websites, apps, software, or other services designed to “nudify” images risk extensive damages, including punitive damages, if a victim decides to sue. Their offending products could also be blocked in the state. Additionally, Minnesota’s attorney general could impose fines up to $500,000 per fake AI nude flagged. Any fines collected would be used to fund services for victims of “sexual assault, general crime, domestic violence, and child abuse,” the law stipulates.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Senate unanimously voted 65–0 to pass the law. That vote came after the bill just as quickly passed in the House last week, the 19th News reported. Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign the law when it reaches his desk, and if that happens, the state will start enforcing the ban this August.

Ars could not immediately reach Walz’s office for comment.

Minnesota man used one app to undress 80+ friends

Democratic Senator Erin Maye Quade introduced the bill in Minnesota after residents discovered that one man had nudified images of more than 80 women from his social circles. In a statement, she said that she looked forward to Walz signing the bill, which finally offers legal recourse to those victims, as well as others impacted by the mainstreaming of nudifying apps.

RAINN, the national nonprofit that runs the National Sexual Assault Hotline, also helped get Minnesota’s bill passed. To prevent any industry lobbying against it, RAINN consulted with tech companies when drafting the law, 19th News reported. That helped ensure there weren’t unexpected impacts on popular commercial products, like Photoshop, that could be used to nudify an image. Acknowledging that the state’s concern is more about how alarmingly easy undressing apps make it to harm an increasing number of mostly women and children globally, the law exempts products or services that require “the technical skill of a user to nudify an image or video.”