This investor brief is a summary of the attached legal landscape report researched and written by Jola Ilori, Student Attorney with the Georgetown Law Communications and Technology Law Clinic.
01 Overview
Artificial intelligence (AI) is at a pivotal legal turning point, as influential regulation and litigation are transforming the industry. This brief and the accompanying legal landscape report provide a comprehensive analysis of the US regulatory landscape, the litigation risks impacting AI industry practices, and the strategic considerations essential for informed investors seeking a competitive advantage.
Regulatory Outlook:
States will remain the primary drivers of new regulation and the clarifiers of compliance requirements. Even if Congress passes a federal AI regulation, it is likely to serve as a floor rather than a ceiling and is unlikely to meaningfully override state laws.
Key areas for regulatory activity include: child and public safety, privacy, harmful content, automated decision-making, autonomous vehicles, transparency, and consumer protection.
Litigation Outlook:
As we continue to interact with AI in both physical and digital forms, new areas of litigation are proliferating. Recent verdicts against social media companies for negligent design open the floodgates for similar claims about AI.
Key areas for litigation include: child and physical safety, privacy, harmful content, employment, healthcare, consumer protection, and copyright and intellectual property.
There is also a burgeoning trend of investors filing suit against companies for overstating AI capabilities (“AI washing”) or failing to disclose the substantial financial and environmental costs of AI infrastructure.