Recently, the corporate legal industry has witnessed an exciting transformation. The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Everlaw have jointly released a new report on the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on the corporate legal industry. The report, titled 'Gen AI and the Future of Corporate Legal Work: Is Your In-House Team Ready?', reveals the rapid application of Generative AI in legal work and its profound effects on the legal profession. Image credit: Image generated by AI, image licensed from Midjourney.

Recently, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) issued a warning that the appearance of AI-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) has become increasingly frequent on the open web, reaching a 'critical point'. The safety oversight body stated that in the past six months, the quantity of illegal content created by AI they have discovered has already surpassed the total from the previous year. Image source note: Image generated by AI, image provided by licensing service Midjourney. IWF's interim CEO Derek Ray Hill.

Judge Kevin Newsom of the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals innovatively used chatbots like ChatGPT to interpret the legal term 'ordinary meaning,' particularly concerning the dispute over whether a 'physical restraint' was involved in a gun robbery case. In this case, the judge agreed to uphold the severe sentence for the defendant DeLeon but noted that there may have been past misinterpretations of the definition of 'physical restraint' and emphasized that the term should be understood according to its ordinary, common meaning. Newsom asked GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini about the ordinary meaning of 'physical restraint.'

The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have jointly signed the first legally binding AI treaty, the 'AI Framework Convention', aimed at ensuring that AI applications adhere to principles of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The treaty requires signatory countries to follow principles that protect user data, respect the law, and operate transparently, implementing these principles through legislation and administrative measures. Although compliance with the treaty primarily relies on monitoring, and enforcement may be weak, it is seen as an important blueprint for countries to formulate AI laws. Currently, the US, EU, UK, and several other countries have signed, and the treaty will come into force in five...

The actors' union SAG-AFTRA has signed an agreement with AI cloning startup Narrativ, allowing actors to legally license their voices for AI-generated audio advertisements. The agreement ensures that actors have the right to understand and reject brand proposals, set prices, and negotiate for fair compensation. SAG-AFTRA's benefit plans will receive a share of the advertising revenue, though the specific percentage has not been disclosed. This agreement aims to address the widespread dissemination of AI-cloned voices without authorization, following ongoing concerns within the AI industry.

Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) faces privacy complaints from nine countries for using EU users' data without consent to train its AI chatbot Grok. The Irish Data Protection Commission expressed surprise at this behavior. Under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, companies must have legal grounds to process personal data or face hefty fines. Complaints indicate X processed data from about 60 million EU users without clear noti....

The legal industry is facing challenges to the traditional hourly billing model, as the rise of generative AI has sparked both optimism and concern. Optimists believe that AI can enhance efficiency by assisting in document drafting and contract review, while some lawyers worry that the widespread adoption of AI may undermine competitive advantages, particularly for large law firms that rely on junior staff to handle a significant volume of complex cases. A survey indicates that about one-third of UK law firms are concerned that AI could negatively impact profits and profit margins, as the use of AI may lead to a reduction in the workload of junior staff, who typically handle this portion of work.

AI startup Harvey raised $100 million in its latest funding round, achieving a valuation of $1.5 billion, led by GV with participation from notable firms. The funds will primarily be used for data collection, team expansion, and market development. Harvey offers an AI legal assistant based on the GPT-4 model, capable of answering legal questions, analyzing leases, extracting trial information, and generating drafts of legal documents. However, it....

Relativity, a legal technology company in the United States, announced its integration with the ChatGPT Enterprise Compliance API from OpenAI, providing users with a seamless way to collect and process human-machine conversational data. This integration makes ChatGPT Enterprise part of the data sources for RelativityOne, allowing users to easily collect and process conversational data between humans and machines.Image source note: Image generated by AI, licensed service provider MidjourneyChatGP

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, ensuring that the works of content creators are not illegally used has become a global concern. Recently, a group of bipartisan senators in the US Senate proposed a new bill called the COPIED Act, aiming to simplify the verification and detection of AI-generated content, and to protect journalists and artists from unauthorized use by AI models.Image Source Note: The image was generated by AI, provided by the image licensing servic

AI digital humans are no longer a novelty. AI 'resurrecting' loved ones has become an industry chain. How does AI achieve the 'resurrection' of loved ones? Customized AI digital human services are booming. The legal and ethical risks of AI 'resurrecting' loved ones. AI technology is facing various challenges.

Some legal experts believe that AI outputs should be protected under the First Amendment. Legal expert Peter Salib warns that this viewpoint could have serious consequences. Regulation of AI outputs may face challenges, leading to potential dangers. Salib advocates for regulations specifically on AI outputs to mitigate risks.

The former Vice President of Stability stated that the training methods of most generative AI models may unlawfully use AI models to train unauthorized works, raising legal disputes over intellectual property. AI technologies challenge the boundaries of copyright law, and existing laws have not adequately considered AI scenarios. Newton-Rex believes the UK should clearly delineate legal requirements for AI training methods.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to citing fake AI-generated cases in court documents. He used Google's Bard for legal research, mistakenly regarding it as a 'super search engine' rather than an AI chatbot. The three cases cited in the court documents do not actually exist. Cohen stated there was no intention to mislead the court and acknowledged his lack of understanding of AI legal technology. Previously, two lawyers in New York faced sanctions and fines for including fake cases generated by ChatGPT in legal documents.

UK-based company Robin AI has successfully completed a Series B funding round, raising nearly $430 million in total funding. Powered by Claude 2.1 technology, the Robin Copilot assistant enhances the efficiency of drafting and reviewing legal contracts. The new funds will be used to expand operations in the US and Asia-Pacific regions. Robin AI's unique solutions have garnered investor confidence, with Temasek Holdings leading the round. This reflects a growing interest in the application of artificial intelligence in the legal field, transforming the way the legal industry operates.

Global legal services leader LexisNexis has partnered with the American Bar Association (ABA) to provide a ChatGPT-like assistant, Lexis+ AI, to 100,000 law school students. The partnership has been confirmed by the ABA's official journal, marking the world's first case of deploying generative AI at a school-wide level, making educational history. Lexis+ AI, based on OpenAI's GPT-4 and other large models, offers features for drafting legal documents, summarizing, analyzing legal content, and querying legal knowledge for lawyers and law students. This collaboration benefits from LexisNexis's extensive expertise.

Anthropic recently updated its business terms to provide comprehensive legal protection for commercial clients, including tools like the generative AI chatbot Claude. There are rumors that the company will secure $750 million in funding to strengthen its position in the highly competitive AI market, competing with giants such as Google and OpenAI. In terms of technological upgrades, Anthropic has made significant progress with its AI tools. By offering legal safeguards, it sets a new standard for AI-driven content creation, which could have a profound impact on the entire generative AI industry.

UK legal giant Allen & Overy has launched ContractMatrix to help lawyers draft standard legal contracts. Over 1,000 lawyers are already using it, and five companies plan to trial it in January next year. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft and AI startup Harvey, the tool aims to improve lawyers' efficiency and reduce costs. It can draft non-disclosure agreements and merger contracts, and has even been used to generate the world's first 100% AI-generated contract.

The UK government has released guidelines allowing judges to use ChatGPT for drafting judgments. The guidelines detail the proper usage methods, potential risks, and examples, aimed at judicial institutions. The Lord Chief Justice Colin Birss highlighted the convenience of ChatGPT but emphasized the precautions. The guidelines stress the need for caution when using ChatGPT, advising against handling unknown content and noting legal distinctions. The release marks a recognition of generative AI in the judicial field, with plans for continuous improvement of related guidelines.

Legal tech company Harvey, backed by OpenAI, announced it has successfully secured $80 million in Series B funding, achieving a valuation of $715 million. Harvey, which utilizes OpenAI's GPT-4 series models, offers a deeply customized ChatGPT assistant for lawyers, achieving outstanding results in the legal field. Harvey is actively expanding its market influence by collaborating with PwC and OpenAI technologies to develop proprietary legal ChatGPT assistants for various applications in law, taxation, human resources, and more.