A NEW application of generative AI technology has become a chief priority for lawmakers in one US state.

The “nudification” law would ban the use of these programs to create sexually explicit material, punishing offenders with $500,000 fines.

Minnesota House File 1606 goes into effect on August 1 after being passed with a vote of 132-1 in the state’s House of Representatives.

State law defines nudification as “an image or video altered or generated to depict an intimate part not depicted in an original unaltered image or video of an identifiable individual.”

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Under the law, owners of sites or services who violate it by allowing their generative AI to be used for nudification purposes face $500,000 fines.

Victims of this technology can also sue for damages via a civil right of action created by the law, with lawmakers saying their intent was to attack the problem at its roots.

“This [law] particularly goes at the root of that. So the tool that these folks use to create this material is going to be banned.

“It cannot be advertised either,” said Democratic State Representative Jess Hanson to local outlet KTTC.

Lawmakers who advocated for the bill say the use of the technology is on the rise for the purpose of creating heinous sexual materials, and that responsible regulation falls on corporations.

“We’ve seen a 26,000% increase in the use of this AI material to create child sexual abuse material, and so that awareness was a big piece of it for people,” said Hanson.

“Corporations have a role in preventing violence in our communities, and this kind of sexual violence is something that they can do something about.

“They claimed they were doing it themselves, and they weren’t, and so now we’re going to hold them accountable to it.”

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Lawmakers who work with children in their day jobs spoke to the real-life impacts of this technology that they’ve observed, stressing the bill’s importance likewise.

“I’ve had kids that have been victimized in this area in my [role as a] principal, so this is easy,” said Republican Representative Ben Bakeberg to KTTC.

Neither Representative Hanson nor Representative Bakeberg immediately returned The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.