AI Update: Industry Moves On Data Provenance, Microsoft Joins OpenAI Board, Client AI Disclosures
This week in AI news.
With many AI-related lawsuits hinging on who has the right to the intellectual property used to train large language models, a coalition of companies that includes American Express, Humana, IBM, Pfizer, UPS, and Walmart have launched the Data & Trust Alliance, a nonprofit organization with the goal of developing a series of standards “for describing the origin, history, and legal rights to data,” according to the New York Times.
In the wake of OpenAI’s tumultuous last week, the company’s board has added a non-voting observer position for Microsoft, according to the Financial Times. Microsoft is one of OpenAI’s most important investors, and the new role is part of a broader effort to stabilize OpenAI’s operations and leadership, said Bret Taylor, current OpenAI board chair and former Salesforce chief executive.
Bloomberg Law dug into the practical and ethical aspects of disclosing a law firm’s use of AI in its workflow to clients, finding mixed opinions from across the industry. While some legal professionals are wary of having to name, for example, the particular search tools used during the legal research process, others argue that it may be “prudent” to keep clients as much in the loop as possible — especially while the industry and the world at large adapt to the technology.
Legaltech News’ Cassandre Coyer investigated whether its possible for large language models trained on publicly available personal data to be made compliant with the EU’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) and the “right to be forgotten” encoded in the legislation. So far, there is no clear route to compliance, leaving AI companies waiting to see how regulators act.
In a new blog post for Thomson Reuters, General Manager of the outlet’s small law firm segment Mark Haddad broke down how effective use of AI paired with human attorney’s knowledge of the law and their specific practice area “presents unprecedented opportunities for small law firms to compete.”
Ethan Beberness is a Brooklyn-based writer covering legal tech, small law firms, and in-house counsel for Above the Law. His coverage of legal happenings and the legal services industry has appeared in Law360, Bushwick Daily, and elsewhere.
