AI × Law

A federal judge permitted product-liability claims against CharacterAI to move forward by classifying its AI chatbot as a product. In another case, a judge allowed discrimination claims against Workday over its AI screening software, as litigation involving AI continues to accelerate.

German legal publisher CHBeck, alongside Austrian publisher MANZ, has taken a majority stake in Berlin-based legal AI developer Noxtua in a transaction valued at over €100 million. The strategic move integrates CHBeck's vast proprietary content with Noxtua's AI platform while previous financial and law firm investors, including Dentons and CMS, exit as shareholders.

A court's reliance on expert testimony regarding originality, forensic evidence of copying, and market harm proved pivotal in Thomson Reuters' landmark copyright suit against Ross Intelligence. The expert's analysis helped defeat Ross's fair use defense over its use of Westlaw headnotes to train its AI platform.

French lawyer and data scientist Damien Charlotin launched a database tracking fake legal citations and arguments generated by AI in court filings. The tracker has documented 120 instances since June 2023, highlighting a growing trend of courts and opposing counsel catching LLM hallucinations.

An in-depth analysis breaks down the strategic advantages of legal AI platforms based on content libraries and pricing rather than underlying models. CoCounsel leads in Westlaw-backed legal research, Legora offers metered contract workflows, and Harvey secures top benchmark scores despite complex vendor terms.

Founded by a former Clifford Chance lawyer and a D.E. Shaw alumnus, WilsonAI raised £1.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Nomad Ventures. The London-based startup uses a Legal Large Action Model (LLAM) designed to automate repetitive paralegal tasks and NDA workflows for in-house legal departments.

Thomson Reuters CPO David Wong argues that legal AI has bifurcated into general-purpose operational tools and authoritative platforms backed by verified law databases. The distinction comes as Anthropic launches a legal plugin for Claude Cowork while CoCounsel reaches one million users.

EVOX Productions is suing Stanford University, alleging that its copyrighted stock car images were used without a license in the ImageNet and Stanford Cars datasets. The case centers on whether academic AI research and dataset compilation constitute fair use, which could impact AI research at U.S. universities.

The federal judiciary's Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules is evaluating proposed Rule 901(c) to govern evidence challenged as generative AI fabrications. The rule would establish a two-stage process requiring a challenger to make an initial showing of fabrication before shifting the burden to the offering party to prove authenticity.

A Florida appellate court panel scolded an attorney over filings containing incomprehensible 'AI slop' that causes delays and clogs court dockets. The judges warned that abusive AI-generated filings undermine the administration of justice and noted the attorney could face state bar discipline.

In ANI Media v. OpenAI, the Delhi High Court issued India's first major judicial ruling on generative AI and copyright. The court declined to grant an interim injunction, ruling prima facie that storing copyrighted articles to train large language models falls under the Copyright Act's fair dealing exception for research.

Technology company Norm AI, which operates an affiliated law firm targeting financial services clients, has raised $260 million at a $1.2 billion valuation. The funding highlights growing investor appetite for AI platforms that combine software capabilities with specialized legal services.

U.S. District Judge Castel has granted Meta's motion to transfer the Elsevier v. Meta copyright lawsuit from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of California. Meta's attorneys informed Judge Chhabria, who oversees the Kadrey v. Meta book copyright cluster, of the transfer order.

Startup DaVoice has filed a federal trade secrets lawsuit in California against Perplexity AI, alleging the AI search company misappropriated proprietary source code and architecture for 'wake word' technology following a collaboration. Perplexity denied the allegations, citing contract terms that allow it to develop competing products.

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights completed a four-day dialogue and training session with UNESCO on AI, human rights, and the rule of law. The court initiated a digital needs assessment and began discussions on developing an institutional AI policy to guide the responsible use of AI tools in its judicial proceedings.

Swedish legal AI company Legora announced plans to open an office in Madrid as part of its ongoing expansion. The move comes just months after competitor Harvey entered the Spanish market.

In-house lawyers at a private equity group have developed a custom AI tool designed to accelerate transaction workflows. The system significantly reduces the time required to prepare initial drafts of financing grids and pre-deal summary documents.

Major law firms are aggressively recruiting engineers, data scientists, and technical leaders, with Cooley launching a firm-owned entity called Cooley AI hiring for 14 roles. The hiring spree comes alongside massive tech commitments from BigLaw, including Kirkland & Ellis's $500 million custom AI platform and Morgan & Morgan's $1 billion decade-long commitment.

Legal AI startup Intelligent AF has officially launched and acquired TechnoCat to help build out its fluency ecosystem. The acquisition aims to enhance the company's capabilities in providing specialized AI solutions for legal professionals.

Legal AI startup Legora, cofounded by Forbes Under 30 alum Max Junestrand, is reportedly in discussions to raise new funding that would value the company at $8.5 billion. The massive valuation underscores the continued surge of venture capital flowing into AI-driven legal technology.