Addressing legal issues with the latest technological developments and social media trends.
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Testing AI systems is essential for ensuring their effectiveness, reliability and safety in real-world applications. Companies can employ various mechanisms to rigorously evaluate their AI technologies.

In “Is Your AI Testing Tool a Breach of Contract Claim Waiting to Happen?”, colleagues Mia Rendar and Sam Reno explore how, as AI products grow in both popularity and technical complexity, and as robust testing tools become indispensable, the very utilization of such tools may unwittingly expose companies to legal risks.

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The potential of artificial intelligence to transform industries is well-established, but what exactly does that mean for a specific industry?

For Pratt’s Energy Law Report, Robert A. James, Aimee P. Ghosh, Cara M. MacDonald and the Hon. Jerry McNerney take readers on a deeper dive exploring the opportunities, risks and regulations in the specific applications of artificial intelligence to renewable energy and to the electric power ecosystem into which renewables fit.

Read “Artificial Intelligence in Renewable Energy” now.

 

 

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GettyImages-804492304-300x200Electronic identification and trust services (eIDAS) refer to a range of services that include verifying the identity of individuals and businesses online and verifying the authenticity of electronic documents. Since 2014, such services provided in the EU have been subject to the eIDAS Regulation, which aimed to create a predictable regulatory environment across the EU and ensure that interoperability across different EU Member States. The eIDAS Regulation’s complexity, inflexibility and perceived limitations resulted in limited adoption, while the COVID-19 pandemic simultaneously fueled an increased demand for electronic identification. Consequently, the European Commission committed to revising the eIDAS Regulation to establish an EU-wide attribute-based electronic identity framework, incorporating a government-issued digital identity wallet to eliminate the dependence on commercial authentication providers.

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Reflecting the growing concern with cybersecurity threats associated with Internet of Things (IoT) products, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules at its March 2024 meeting to implement a new Voluntary Cybersecurity Labeling Program. The new label— “U.S. Cyber Trust Mark”—will be affixed on wireless consumer IoT products that go through the voluntary review program to ensure that the products comply with baseline cybersecurity criteria established in the September 2022 NIST Report 8425.

In “FCC Announces Consumer IoT Cybersecurity Labeling Program,” Brian E. Finch, Glenn S. Richards and Lee G. Petro take a closer look at the new program.

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On March 13, 2024, the EU Parliament voted to pass the EU’s much-discussed AI Act (with 523 votes in favor, 46 against and 49 abstentions). For an insight into the AI Act’s progression through the EU lawmaking system, see our earlier posts: here, here and here.

The legal text of the regulation will now be reviewed before it is endorsed by the EU Council and then finally adopted. The AI Act will come into force 20 days after the final text is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, with a phased implementation timeline.

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With millions of people already using artificial intelligence (AI) to perform a variety of personal tasks and companies integrating large language model (LLM) services for professional use, concerns over the frequency with which generative AI produces inaccurate content—and for users who may too readily assume that the content is factual—are mounting, along with multiple examples of AI hallucinations and other misstatements. Some are disastrous, others humorous and some, just creepy. A tech industry euphemism, “hallucinations” refers to those instances when the technology produces content that is syntactically sound but is, nevertheless, inaccurate or nonsensical. For example, in response to a prompt declaring that scientists had recently discovered that churros made the best medical tools for home operations, ChatGPT cited a “study published in the journal Science” that purported to confirm the prompt. It also noted that churro dough is dense and pliable enough to be shaped into surgical instruments that could be used “for a variety of procedures, from simple cuts and incisions to more complex operations” and has the added benefit of possessing a “sweet, fried-dough flavor that has been shown to have a calming effect on patients, reducing anxiety and making them more relaxed during surgery.” ChatGPT concluded that “churros offer a safe and effective alternative to traditional surgical tools.”

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On January 25, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a summit focused on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on consumers and competition in the technology sector. Comprising three panel discussions and related commentary from the Commissioners, the Summit focused on the need to promote an open, competitive landscape while protecting consumer safety and data privacy. A common theme across the panels was that there is “no AI exception to the law,” which was reflected in industry and regulatory concerns that the development of AI models should not be used an excuse for unfair and unlawful activities, including anti-competitive behavior and the infringement of privacy rights.

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In the cutthroat arena of business, where ideas spark revolutions, the protection of intellectual property (IP) is not just a legal formality—it’s a survival strategy. Imagine a world where your groundbreaking ideas, painstakingly nurtured, are snatched and claimed by others. This isn’t just a hypothetical scenario; it’s a real threat that underscores the power of IP protection.

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On January 5, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published an article discussing privacy issues related to the DNA information that many consumers provide to genetic testing companies. This post outlines key takeaways from the article and recent FTC enforcement actions, emphasizing the privacy implications for consumers and the responsibilities of businesses operating in this space.

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On December 5, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction secured by skateboard apparel company Vans against, MSCHF, an infamous parodist company. The Court found that the district court had correctly concluded that Vans was likely to succeed on its trademark infringement claims against MSCHF for its Wavy Baby sneakers, which allegedly parodied Vans’ iconic “Old Skool” sneaker design.

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