On September 24, 2025, Covington’s tech industry experts explored what legal teams, government affairs professionals, and business leaders at tech companies need to know during this pivotal period and offered insights into anticipated challenges and emerging opportunities in the year ahead. Eight Covington attorneys shared their insights during a 60-minute session moderated by Covington partner
Less Tickbox, More Toolbox: 4 Key Takeaways From Latest SFO Guidance on Corporate Compliance Programmes
Internal controls must be tailored, proportionate, and risk-based — not just a “paper exercise”.
By Erin Brown Jones, Clare Nida, and Matthew Unsworth
Last week, the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) published its updated “Guidance on Evaluating a Corporate Compliance Programme” (the Guidance). The agency’s previous guidance was published in 2020 as an
The Latest Judicial Guidance on AI: White text, bias, fakes, hallucinations, and the use of AI by litigants in person and lawyers
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – Guidance for Judicial Office Holders (31 October 2025)
In the introduction, this Guidance note announces that “It updates and replaces the guidance document issued in April 2025”, which shows the speed at which AI is developing. It “sets out key risks and issues associated with using AI and some suggestions for
Product Liability Directive 2024/2853 provides Protection against Digital-Era Defects. Member States still have One Year to Implement the Directive into National Laws (9 December 2026)
The new Product Liability Directive adopted last year on 23 October 2024 came into force on 8 December 2024 providing Member States with two years to implement the provisions. Its goal: to address and tackle the new product liability challenges of the digital age.
Amongst a host of new provisions, the new product liability rules
New Inventorship Guidance on AI-Assisted Inventions: AI Can’t Be an Inventor, But AI Can Be a Tool in the Inventive Process (For Now…)
As readers may recall, in February 2024, the USPTO issued guidance on inventorship in AI-assisted inventions, which we wrote about here. On November 26, 2025, the USPTO rescinded that guidance and replaced it with new guidance.
By way of background, the February 2024 Guidance analyzed the naming of inventors for AI-assisted inventions using
Implementation of New UK Subscription Contract Regime Delayed
The authors wish to thank Sirrul Choudhury for his contributions to this post.
On 20 November 2025 the UK government confirmed that the secondary legislation which is required to clarify and bring into force the new consumer subscription contract regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) [A New Era for
Getty Images (US) Inc (and others) v Stability AI Limited. Input: Getty Images v Stability AI. Output: Continued Uncertainty.
On 4 November 2025 the UK High Court handed down its judgment in the case of Getty Images (US) Inc (and others) v Stability AI Limited [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch) [High Court Judgment Template].
The case concerned the training, development and deployment of Stability AI’s “Stable Diffusion” generative AI model and, as one
White House Drafts Executive Order to Preempt State AI Laws
According to reports published on November 19, the White House has prepared a draft Executive Order to preempt state AI regulations in lieu of a uniform national legislative framework, marking a significant escalation in federal efforts to assert control over AI regulation. The draft Executive Order, titled “Eliminating State Law Obstruction of National AI
Mind the Bot: FMLC Issues Report on AI in Wholesale Financial Markets
The report covers the private law issues that may arise when firms use AI to assist, or directly execute, market activities.
By Nell Perks
In late October, the Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) released a report that considers the private law issues that may arise from the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wholesale financial
AI liability in defamation Part II: The UK
As I observed in Part I of this article, no UK court has yet issued a judgment in a libel or defamation claim concerning AI-generated content, but several cases and legal actions are emerging and the issue is widely anticipated to reach the courts soon. Proceedings are emerging in other jurisdictions in the US (see