Ahead of its December 8 board meeting, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) has issued draft “automated decisionmaking technology” (ADMT) regulations.  The CPPA has yet to initiate the formal rulemaking process and has stated that it expects to begin formal rulemaking next year.  Accordingly, the draft ADMT regulations are subject to change.  Below are the key takeaways: 

Continue Reading CPPA Releases Draft Automated Decisionmaking Technology Regulations

On November 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) announced a competition seeking solutions to protect consumers from voice cloning technology harms. Voice cloning technology can create a nearly identical clone of someone’s voice based on a short audio clip and is becoming more sophisticated as text-to-speech AI advances. The FTC cited concerns about scammers using voice cloning technology to impersonate individuals’ family members or employers to trick individuals into transferring large sums of money. The contest is meant “to foster breakthrough ideas on preventing, monitoring, and evaluating malicious voice cloning” and is open to a range of solutions, “from products to policies to procedures.” Submissions are open from January 2 to 12, 2024 and the winner will receive $25,000.

More information is available here.

Recently, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced new legislation to address transparency and accountability for artificial intelligence (AI) systems, including those deployed for certain “critical impact” use cases. While many other targeted, bipartisan AI bills have been introduced in both chambers of Congress, this bill appears to be one of the first to propose specific legislative text for broadly regulating AI testing and use across industries.

Continue Reading Bipartisan group of Senators introduce new AI transparency legislation

On October 3, 2023, an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament (“Parliament”) adopted its position on the EU Media Freedom Act (the “Act”), introducing a number of amendments to the text of the Act as proposed by the European Commission (the “Commission”).

The Commission’s proposal for a Regulation establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market (European Media Freedom Act) and amending Directive 2010/13/EU, published on September 16, 2022, aims, inter alia, to safeguard media independence and promote media pluralism across the EU, in addition to establishing specific requirements for Very Large Online Platforms (“VLOPs”) as defined under Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (the Digital Services Act).

This blog post summarizes some of the key developments resulting from Parliament’s proposed amendments in relation to: (i) requirements for VLOPs when removing content of media service providers from their platforms (Article 17); and (ii) the rights of media service providers (Article 4).

Continue Reading European Parliament Adopts its Position on the EU Media Freedom Act

On October 30, 2023, days ahead of government leaders convening in the UK for an international AI Safety Summit, the White House issued an Executive Order (“EO”) outlining an expansive strategy to support the development and deployment of safe and secure AI technologies (for further details on the EO, see our blog here). As readers will be aware, the European Commission released its proposed Regulation Laying Down Harmonized Rules on Artificial Intelligence (the EU “AI Act”) in 2021 (see our blog here). EU lawmakers are currently negotiating changes to the Commission text, with hopes of finalizing the text by the end of this year, although many of its obligations would only begin to apply to regulated entities in 2026 or later.

The EO and the AI Act stand as two important developments shaping the future of global AI governance and regulation. This blog post discusses key similarities and differences between the two.

Continue Reading From Washington to Brussels: A Comparative Look at the Biden Administration’s Executive Order and the EU’s AI Act

On November 1, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) that will initiate an assessment into the availability and quality of broadband service nationwide.  The assessment, which is required by statute, will rely on information generated by the FCC’s new Broadband Data Collection (“BDC”) to evaluate progress towards broadband universal service goals.  The NOI requests detailed public input on how the FCC should define and evaluate these goals based on the BDC data and other inputs.

Continue Reading FCC Releases Notice of Inquiry into Broadband Speed Benchmark and Related Issues

The District Court for the Northern District of California recently granted, in substantial part, separate motions to dismiss a complaint challenging three defendants’ creation or use of Stable Diffusion, a generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) application used to generate images based on user-supplied instructions.

Continue Reading Motion to Dismiss Granted in Case About The Intersection of Copyright Law and Generative AI

On October 17, 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal to review the Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) framework.  The review consists of: (i) a proposal to amend the ADR Directive; (ii) a proposal to repeal the Online Dispute Resolution (“ODR”) Regulation; and (iii) a recommendation addressed to online marketplace and EU trade associations. 

Continue Reading European Commission Proposes Alternative Dispute Resolution Framework Review

Earlier today, the White House issued a Fact Sheet summarizing its Executive Order on a comprehensive strategy to support the development of safe and secure artificial intelligence (“AI”).  The Executive Order follows a number of actions by the Biden Administration on AI, including its Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and voluntary commitments from certain developers of AI systems.  According to the Administration, the Executive Order establishes new AI safety and security standards, protects privacy, advances equity and civil rights, protects workers, consumers, and patients, promotes innovation and competition, and advances American leadership.  This blog post summarizes these key components.

Continue Reading Biden Administration Announces Artificial Intelligence Executive Order