Tag
ai-ethics
14 articles
TAKE IT DOWN Act: The Deepfake Law Now Binding Every Platform
The TAKE IT DOWN Act's Section 3 set a May 19, 2026 deadline for covered U.S. platforms to offer a removal process for non-consensual intimate images, including AI deepfakes, and to take them down within 48 hours. The FTC enforces it with civil penalties up to $53,088 per violation and has warned 15 major platforms.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jul 16, 2026
Algorithmic Hiring: When AI Rejects You Before a Human Does
Algorithmic hiring tools that score and reject candidates face legal scrutiny. Mobley v. Workday, conditionally certified May 2025 as a nationwide ADEA collective, tests whether a software vendor can be an employer's 'agent' liable for discrimination. Disparate-impact law, the EEOC's $365K iTutorGroup settlement, and NYC Local Law 144 bias audits frame the accountability debate.
By Aisha Patel · 5 min · Jul 12, 2026
AI Hallucinations in Court: 1,725 Cases and a $110K Wake-Up Call
AI hallucinations in court filings have grown from the 2023 Mata v. Avianca case (a $5,000 sanction for six fabricated ChatGPT citations) into a documented worldwide phenomenon. Damien Charlotin's database catalogs 1,725 cases as of July 5, 2026, led by the US (1,187), Canada (190), and Australia (96). Self-represented litigants account for 1,016 cases, lawyers 667. In December 2025, an Oregon federal judge imposed a record $110,000 penalty in Couvrette v. Wisnovsky for 15 fake cases and 8 fabricated quotations. At least 25 federal courts now require AI-use certifications.
By Aisha Patel · 5 min · Jul 7, 2026
New York Kids Chatbot Safety Act: Inside the S9051B Ban
New York's Kids Chatbot Safety Act (S9051B) passed both chambers unanimously in June 2026, banning AI companion chatbots for minors and prohibiting sycophancy and claims of being human. Enforced by the attorney general with fines up to $25,000 per violation, it takes effect January 1, 2027 pending the governor's signature, part of a national wave including California SB 243 and the federal GUARD Act.
By Aisha Patel · 4 min · Jul 6, 2026
Denmark: Copyrighting Your Face to Fight AI Deepfakes
Denmark is amending its Copyright Act to give every person a consent-based, copyright-style right over AI-generated imitations of their face and voice, enforced via the EU DSA and expected to take effect in July 2026. Critics warn that using copyright, an alienable economic right, to protect identity risks commodifying likeness.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jun 26, 2026
EU AI Act: Why Brussels Just Delayed Its Toughest Rules
The EU AI Act's high-risk obligations have been postponed via the Digital Omnibus on AI: stand-alone Annex III systems now apply from 2 December 2027 and embedded Annex I systems from 2 August 2028 (fixed dates, not a conditional trigger). A provisional political deal was struck 6 May 2026 and confirmed by the Council 13 May. A new Article 5 ban on nudifiers/CSAM is added (transition to 2 Dec 2026), and AI literacy duties are softened. Crucially, Article 50 transparency obligations still apply from 2 August 2026. The piece weighs whether the delay is a quiet retreat or responsible governance.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jun 24, 2026
AB 2013: Inside xAI's Fight to Kill California's AI Data Law
A breakdown of California's AB 2013 training-data law and xAI's constitutional lawsuit to overturn it.
By Aisha Patel · 5 min · Jun 20, 2026
AI Search Copyright: The Lawsuits Closing In on Perplexity
AI search engines are facing a wave of copyright litigation. The New York Times and CNN have sued Perplexity over scraping and verbatim reproduction, including paywalled content its Comet browser reads past client-side walls. The .5B Bartz v. Anthropic settlement showed piracy carries huge consequences, and Perplexity's Comet Plus revenue-share program concedes that web content was never free.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jun 14, 2026
The Great American AI Act: A 3-Year Freeze on State AI Laws
The Great American Artificial Intelligence Act, a 269-page bipartisan discussion draft unveiled June 4, 2026, would impose federal safety mandates on large frontier AI developers—public risk frameworks, semi-annual independent audits, incident reporting, and up to $1 million-a-day penalties—while preempting new state laws regulating AI model development for three years. AI-safety groups call the preemption a 'generational mistake'; sponsors argue a single federal standard beats a 50-state patchwork.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jun 11, 2026
Reddit v. Perplexity: The Scraping Lawsuit That Could Reshape AI
Reddit sued Perplexity and three scraping firms (Oxylabs, SerpApi, AWMProxy) in October 2025, alleging they bypassed access controls to harvest Reddit content from Google search results. Crucially, Reddit leans on the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision (17 U.S.C. 1201) rather than copyright, sidestepping fair-use defenses. A win could force platforms industry-wide to wall off user content and pursue licensing.
By Aisha Patel · 5 min · Jun 10, 2026
ChatGPT Ads: Can Advertising and AI Trust Coexist?
On May 5, 2026, OpenAI opened a beta self-serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT with CPC bidding and aggregate measurement tools, backed by agencies like Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP. OpenAI promises independent answers, private conversations and user control — but an AI assistant that answers in a single authoritative voice has more power to nudge than search ever did, making those principles essential to enforce.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jun 6, 2026
AI Companion Chatbots: The 2026 Lawsuit Reckoning
A 2026 survey of the legal and regulatory reckoning facing AI companion chatbots. Florida sued OpenAI and Sam Altman on June 1, 2026; Character.AI settled teen-suicide suits and faces a Pennsylvania action; the FTC opened a companion-bot inquiry; and the EU AI Act becomes fully applicable on August 2, 2026, but leaves emotion-recognition gaps. The piece outlines what real safeguards would require.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · Jun 2, 2026
AI Data Centers: The Energy and Water Bill Coming Due
AI data centers are now a national-scale energy story. The IEA projects global data center electricity rising from 415 TWh in 2024 to 945 TWh by 2030, with AI the main driver. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory projects US data centers reach 7-12% of national electricity by 2028, with direct water use of 16-33 billion gallons. Liquid cooling cuts water 70-90% but not electricity, the dominant cost. The ethical asks are transparency, fair cost attribution rather than socializing grid upgrades onto households, real additionality of clean energy, and water-siting discipline.
By Aisha Patel · 5 min · Jun 1, 2026
Colorado AI Act: SB 189 Guts America's Top AI Law
On May 14, 2026, Colorado's Governor signed SB 189, repealing and replacing the Colorado AI Act. The new law delays the effective date to January 1, 2027 and abandons the duty of care, impact assessments, and risk-management mandates in favor of a narrower ADMT disclosure-and-transparency regime.
By Aisha Patel · 6 min · May 31, 2026