Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Earlier this week, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) cast their votes in favor of the much-anticipated AI Act. With 523 votes in favor, 46 votes against, and 49 abstentions, the vote is a culmination of an effort that began in April 2021, when the EU Commission first published its proposal for the Act.

Here’s what lies ahead:Continue Reading EU Parliament Adopts AI Act

State lawmakers are pursuing a variety of legislative proposals aimed at regulating the development and use of artificial intelligence (“AI”).  In the past two months, legislators in Florida, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington passed legislation regulating AI-generated content, and Utah’s legislature passed legislation regulating generative AI and establishing a state test bed for evaluating future AI regulations.  These are just a sampling of the wave of legislative proposals advancing in states across the country.Continue Reading State Lawmakers Pass Flurry of AI Legislation

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) finalized a new rule prohibiting the impersonation of government and business entities.  That same day, the FTC sought comment on a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (“SNPRM”) to expand the rule to prohibit the impersonation of individuals and to extend liability to parties who provide the means and instrumentalities to create unlawful impersonations.  The FTC cited concerns about AI-generated deepfakes as its rationale for these actions.  FTC Chair Lina Khan stated that the proposed expansions would strengthen “the FTC’s toolkit to address AI-enabled scams impersonating individuals.”Continue Reading The FTC Prohibits AI-Generated Impersonation Fraud

On February 13, 2024, the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection and its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (the “Parliament Committees”) voted overwhelmingly to adopt the EU’s proposed AI Act. This follows a vote to approve the text earlier this month by the Council of Ministers’ Permanent Representatives Committee (“Coreper“). This brings the Act closer to final; the last step in the legislative process is a vote by the full European Parliament, currently scheduled to take place in April 2024.

The compromise text approved by Coreper and the Parliament Committees includes a number of significant changes as compared to earlier drafts. In this blog post, we set out some key takeaways.Continue Reading EU AI Act: Key Takeaways from the Compromise Text

On February 20, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) task force in the House of Representatives, with the goal of developing principles and policies to promote U.S. leadership and security with respect to AI.  Rep. Jay Olbernolte (R-CA) will chair the task force, joined by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) as co-chair.  Several other senior members of the California delegation, including Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), will participate in the effort as well.Continue Reading New Bipartisan House Task Force May Signal Legislative Momentum on Artificial Intelligence

On February 8, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a declaratory ruling stating that Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) restrictions on making phone calls using an “artificial or prerecorded voice” “encompass current AI technologies that generate human voices.”  Therefore, unless an exemption applies, telemarketing calls using an artificial or prerecorded voice simulated or generated

On January 24, 2024, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced that, following the political agreement reached in December 2023 on the EU AI Act (“AI Act”) (see our previous blog here), the Commission intends to proceed with a package of measures (“AI Innovation Strategy”) to support AI startups and small and medium-size enterprises (“SMEs”) in the EU.

Alongside these measures, the Commission also announced the creation of the European AI Office (“AI Office”), which is due to begin formal operations on February 21, 2024.

This blog post provides a high-level summary of these two announcements, in addition to some takeaways to bear in mind as we draw closer to the adoption of the AI Act.Continue Reading European Commission Announces New Package of AI Measures

On February 6, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced that it had sent a letter to Lingo Telecom, LLC (“Lingo”) to demand that Lingo “immediately stop supporting unlawful robocall traffic on its networks.”  As background, Lingo is a Texas-based telecommunications provider that, according to the FCC’s letter, was the originating provider for “deepfake” calls made by Life Corp. to New Hampshire voters on January 21, 2024.  The calls, which imitated President Biden’s voice and falsified caller ID information, took place two days before the New Hampshire presidential primary and reportedly advised Democratic voters to refrain from voting in the primary.  Continue Reading FCC Issues Cease-and-Desist Letter Regarding Robocalls Made Before New Hampshire Primary

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 China. The previous articles in this series covered the European Union and the United States.Continue Reading Spotlight Series on Global AI Policy — Part III: China’s Policy Approach to Artificial Intelligence

This blog post summarizes recent telemarketing developments emerging at the federal level and from Missouri, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Federal Legislation

On January 29, 2024, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced H.R. 7116, the “Do Not Disturb Act.”  A press release accompanying the bill’s introduction stated that Congressman Pallone introduced the bill “to protect consumers from the bombardment of dangerous and unwanted calls and texts that have been exacerbated by the Supreme Court’s decision in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid . . .”  If enacted, the bill would, among other things, do the following:Continue Reading Federal and State Telemarketing Legislative Updates