On 23 April, the Italian Council of Ministers passed a bill (AI Bill) aimed at introducing national AI provisions. The main scope is to establish regulatory criteria to balance the opportunities offered by new technologies with the risks associated with improper and harmful use. It supplements the European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act), which was approved last March. Next, the AI Bill will be subject to discussion and approval by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The AI Bill consists of five parts: Principles and purposes Sector provisions National strat ..read more

The creative process… It’s 4:31 in the morning, a watery dawn is breaking, and I’m wafting down an almost empty M40 motorway heading to Heathrow for an early flight. The advanced autopilot features in the car are helping with the driving (in the UK it amounts to lane keeping and smart cruise control rather than anything nearer to ‘full self driving’), but I am certainly still paying close attention with both hands on the wheel. Using the ChatGPT voice feature with the new GPT-4o model, I’m writing this article on the go. It is like having a phone call with a very bright and cheerful friend pip ..read more

The pace of development in the tech sector is ever accelerating. Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) have become ubiquitous in our vernacular; cloud computing and SaaS solutions have increased in prevalence with the share of enterprises within the EU buying cloud computing in 2023 having increased by 4.2% since 20211; connectivity is an increased focus point with the UK government setting a new headline ambition for the UK to have nationwide coverage of standalone 5G to all populated areas by 2030; and significant investment and advancements made in quantum computing are highlighted ..read more

Following the publication of the Government’s pro-innovation strategy earlier this year, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) AI Update last week sets out how its existing regulatory framework maps to the Government’s five principles on Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation (AI Principles). The Bank of England and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have also written to the Government last week setting out the work they are doing on delivering safe and responsible AI and Machine Learning within their regulatory remit. The FCA confirms it is monitoring the situati ..read more

On 7 March 2024, the UK Government released a new Space Industrial Plan, building on its 2021 National Space Strategy. This article provides context to the Government’s announcement, including the National Space Strategy which we have previously written about here, and what lies ahead under the new Space Industrial Plan. This is the first in a series of articles which we will publish on this topic. Background to the UK’s space strategy The UK has historically played an important role in space activities. The first British satellite, Ariel-1, was launched in 1962 as part of the Ariel satellite ..read more

On 25 March 2024, the Cabinet Office published Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 02/24: Improving Transparency of AI use in Procurement.  This PPN provides guidance on the use by bidders of Artificial Intelligence in public procurements and in the delivery of government services.  In particular, it highlights the need for greater transparency from bidders regarding use of AI and enhanced due diligence where AI is used in the bidding process. The PPN applies to all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies, and Non-Departmental Public Bodies, with other public sector author ..read more

For the first time in history, the Czech courts have directly dealt with the issue of copyright protection for content created with the help of generative AI. In the case, the plaintiff generated an image using the program DALL-E. The prompt was to “Create a visual representation of two parties signing a business contract in a formal setting, such as a conference room or a law firm office in Prague. Show only hands.” The plaintiff subsequently placed the generated image on their website. The defendant obtained it from the plaintiff’s website and then placed it on their own. The plaintiff objec ..read more

AI is increasingly at the forefront for the insurance sector, as methods to tackle fraud, manage claims and improve customer service are developed. In terms of how these developments are addressed in the contracts that underpin such arrangements there are significant issues to bear in mind. Contracts involving AI still take the form of a technology contract under which services are being provided for specified outcomes or outputs. But there are some key concepts that warrant further consideration and that demand agility in contract drafting. With AI, we are working with complex technology that ..read more

After years of intense negotiation, EU stakeholders have finally reached political agreement on the long-awaited EU Artificial Intelligence Act (“EU AI Act“), which was first published by the European Commission (“EC“) on 21 April 2021. Following the final trilogues, the Council of the EU released the text of the final provisional agreement on 26 January 2024 (“Final Provisional Text“), and this was  endorsed by all 27 EU Member States on 2 February 2024. The torch is now passed to the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Civil Liberties Committees for adoption of the Final Provision ..read more

The sci-fi fascination with AI is well established, long in the tooth and a lazy way of looking at the opportunities (and moreover the threats) presented by AI. But perhaps these once-fantastical ideas are rapidly becoming technological reality. That legislators, including the UK’s House of Lords, are looking seriously at the implications of such technologies is a welcome preparatory action. On 21 February, 2024, the Government published its Response to a report by the House of Lords AI in Weapon Systems Committee, which advised caution in any integration of artificial intelligence in the coun ..read more