MINNEAPOLIS | Nov. 9, 2026 – The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to block enforcement of Minnesota’s HF 1606, arguing that the law threatens Americans’ freedom to create and communicate using artificial intelligence.
The brief asks the court to reverse the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction. It emphasizes that the public interest extends beyond the government’s desire to enforce the law: Courts must also consider the constitutional rights of people who use AI tools to express themselves and the audiences who receive their ideas.
“This case is about more than one company’s ability to offer an AI platform. It is about Americans’ freedom to create, criticize, persuade and participate in public debate,” said Timothy R. Snowball, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “When a law pressures platforms to shut off lawful tools for expression, the injury reaches everyone who uses those tools—and everyone who would otherwise hear what they have to say.”
Minnesota enacted HF 1606 to address nonconsensual AI-generated explicit images and videos. But LJC argues that the law reaches far beyond that objective, threatening protected expression and pressuring AI providers to restrict lawful uses of their technology.
As LJC explained in its earlier briefing, the law requires neither intent nor knowledge and can impose liability even when the person depicted consents and the resulting image is never shared publicly.
With penalties of up to $500,000 for each violation, providers could respond by cutting off image-upload services in Minnesota rather than risking enforcement. The consequences would reach people using those tools to create art, promote small businesses and nonprofits, and participate in political debate. Audiences outside Minnesota would also lose access to their expression.
“The public interest is not simply the government’s interest in enforcing a law,” said Snowball. “It includes the freedom of Minnesotans to speak and the freedom of the rest of us to hear them. Courts cannot leave those constitutional interests out of the equation.”
LJC first filed an amicus brief supporting the challenge in federal district court in August 2026, followed by a brief supporting temporary relief in the Eighth Circuit. Its latest brief focuses on the broader public’s First Amendment interests while the appeal proceeds.
LJC’s position remains consistent: Whatever authority Minnesota may have to regulate harmful uses of AI, the First Amendment does not permit the state to prohibit vast amounts of protected expression along the way. Americans’ constitutional freedoms do not diminish because the tools they use to communicate evolve.
About the Case
SpaceXAI LLC v. Ellison, No. 26-2806, challenges Minnesota’s HF 1606 on First Amendment grounds. Following the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction, the company appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. LJC participates as amicus curiae, supporting preliminary relief and emphasizing the law’s threat to protected expression.
More information is available on LJC’s case page.