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Nicholas Xenakis

Nick Xenakis draws on his Capitol Hill and legal experience to provide public policy and crisis management counsel to clients in a range of industries.

Nick assists clients in developing and implementing policy solutions to litigation and regulatory matters, including on issues involving antitrust, artificial intelligence, bankruptcy, criminal justice, financial services, immigration, intellectual property, life sciences, national security, and technology. He also represents companies and individuals in investigations before U.S. Senate and House Committees.

Nick previously served as General Counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where he managed committee staff and directed legislative efforts. He also participated in key judicial and Cabinet confirmations, including of Attorneys General and Supreme Court Justices. Before his time on Capitol Hill, Nick served as an attorney with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

On January 14, 2025, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on “Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure” (the “EO”), with the goals of preserving U.S. economic competitiveness and access to powerful AI models, preventing U.S. dependence on foreign infrastructure, and promoting U.S. clean energy production to power the development and operation of AI.  Pursuant to these goals, the EO outlines criteria and timeframes for the construction and operation of “frontier AI infrastructure,” including data centers and clean energy resources, by private-sector entities on federal land.  The EO builds upon a series of actions on AI issued by the Biden Administration, including the October 2023 Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI and an October 2024 AI National Security Memorandum.Continue Reading Biden Administration Releases Executive Order on AI Infrastructure

This quarterly update highlights key legislative, regulatory, and litigation developments in the third quarter of 2024 related to artificial intelligence (“AI”) and connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”).  As noted below, some of these developments provide industry with the opportunity for participation and comment.

I.     Artificial Intelligence

Federal Legislative Developments

There continued to be strong bipartisan

Continue Reading U.S. Tech Legislative, Regulatory & Litigation Update – Third Quarter 2024

Updated September 20, 2024.  Originally posted September 11, 2024.

On September 17, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed two bills into law that limit the creation or use of “digital replicas,” making California the latest state to establish new protections for performers, artists, and other employees in response to the rise of AI-generated content.  These state efforts come as Congress considers the NO FAKES Act (S. 4875), introduced by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) on July 31, which would establish a federal “digital replication right” over individual’s own digital replicas and impose liability on persons who knowingly create, display, or distribute digital replicas without consent from the right holder.Continue Reading California Enacts Digital Replica Laws as Congress Considers Federal Approach

This quarterly update highlights key legislative, regulatory, and litigation developments in the second quarter of 2024 related to artificial intelligence (“AI”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity. 

I.       Artificial Intelligence

Federal Legislative Developments

  • Impact Assessments: The American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (H.R. 8818, hereinafter “APRA”) was formally introduced in the House by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) on June 25, 2024.  Notably, while previous drafts of the APRA, including the May 21 revised draft, would have required algorithm impact assessments, the introduced version no longer has the “Civil Rights and Algorithms” section that contained these requirements.
  • Disclosures: In April, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act of 2024 (H.R. 7913).  The Act would require persons that create a training dataset that is used to build a generative AI system to provide notice to the Register of Copyrights containing a “sufficiently detailed summary” of any copyrighted works used in the training dataset and the URL for such training dataset, if the dataset is publicly available.  The Act would require the Register to issue regulations to implement the notice requirements and to maintain a publicly available online database that contains each notice filed.
  • Public Awareness and Toolkits: Certain legislative proposals focused on increasing public awareness of AI and its benefits and risks.  For example, Senator Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the Artificial Intelligence Public Awareness and Education Campaign Act (S. 4596), which would require the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with other agencies, to carry out a public awareness campaign that provides information regarding the benefits and risks of AI in the daily lives of individuals.  Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the Social Media and AI Resiliency Toolkits in Schools Act (S. 4614), which would require the Department of Education and the federal Department of Health and Human Services to develop toolkits to inform students, educators, parents, and others on how AI and social media may impact student mental health.

Continue Reading U.S. Tech Legislative, Regulatory & Litigation Update – Second Quarter 2024

This quarterly update highlights key legislative, regulatory, and litigation developments in the first quarter of 2024 related to artificial intelligence (“AI”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity.  As noted below, some of these developments provide industry with the opportunity for participation and comment.Continue Reading U.S. Tech Legislative, Regulatory & Litigation Update – First Quarter 2024

State lawmakers across the country continue to pursue new legislation to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”), and especially the creation and distribution of AI-generated content (sometimes referred to as “deepfakes,” “synthetic content,” or “fabricated media”).  On March 21, 2024, Tennessee’s governor signed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act (“ELVIS Act”) (HB 2091), marking a new push by state lawmakers to protect the commercial interests of artists and musicians from AI-generated impersonations.Continue Reading Tennessee Enacts Legislation to Protect Musicians from AI-Generated Voice Impersonations

This quarterly update highlights key legislative, regulatory, and litigation developments in the fourth quarter of 2023 and early January 2024 related to technology issues.  These included developments related to artificial intelligence (“AI”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), data privacy, and cybersecurity.  As noted below, some of these developments provide companies with the opportunity for participation and comment.Continue Reading U.S. Tech Legislative, Regulatory & Litigation Update – Fourth Quarter 2023

The field of artificial intelligence (“AI”) is at a tipping point. Governments and industries are under increasing pressure to forecast and guide the evolution of a technology that promises to transform our economies and societies. In this series, our lawyers and advisors provide an overview of the policy approaches and regulatory frameworks for AI in jurisdictions around the world. Given the rapid pace of technological and policy developments in this area, the articles in this series should be viewed as snapshots in time, reflecting the current policy environment and priorities in each jurisdiction.

The following article examines the state of play in AI policy and regulation in the United States. The previous article in this series covered the European Union.Continue Reading Spotlight Series on Global AI Policy — Part II: U.S. Legislative and Regulatory Developments

This quarterly update summarizes key legislative and regulatory developments in the third quarter of 2023 related to key technologies and related topics, including Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity.Continue Reading U.S. Tech Legislative & Regulatory Update – Third Quarter 2023

This quarterly update summarizes key legislative and regulatory developments in the first quarter of 2023 related to Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and autonomous vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity.Continue Reading U.S. AI, IoT, CAV, and Privacy & Cybersecurity Legislative & Regulatory Update – First Quarter 2023