On August 29, California lawmakers passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047), marking yet another major development in states’ efforts to regulate AI. The legislation, which draws on concepts from the White House’s 2023 AI Executive Order (“AI EO”), follows months of high-profile debate and amendments
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California Enacts Digital Replica Laws as Congress Considers Federal Approach
Updated September 20, 2024. Originally posted September 11, 2024.
On September 17, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed two bills into law that limit the creation or use of “digital replicas,” making California the latest state to establish new protections for performers, artists, and other employees in response to the rise of AI-generated content. These…
August 2024 Developments Under President Biden’s AI Executive Order
This is part of an ongoing series of Covington blogs on the implementation of Executive Order No. 14110 on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” (the “AI EO”), issued by President Biden on October 30, 2023. The first blog summarized the AI EO’s key provisions and related OMB guidance, and subsequent…
What do European Commission President von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines Mean for the 2024-2029 Mandate?
On 18 July 2024, Ursula von der Leyen, the current President of the European Commission (“Commission”), was reconfirmed by the European Parliament for a second term. Ahead of her reconfirmation, President von der Leyen delivered a speech before the European Parliament, accompanied by a 30-page program (the “Guidelines”) that lays down the next five-year policy…
August 2024 Developments Under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order and National Cybersecurity Strategy
This is part of a series of Covington blogs on implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”). The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions and timelines, and the subsequent blogs described the actions taken by various government agencies to implement…
The Future of EU Defence Policy and a Renewed Focus on Technology Security
On July 18, 2024, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was reconfirmed by the European Parliament for a second five-year term. As part of the process, she delivered a speech before the Parliament, complemented by a 30-page program, which outlines the Commission’s political guidelines and priorities for the next five…
Soon a new global tax on products developed from “digital information” from biological materials? 5 key takeaways for companies from recent UN negotiations

Photo: View from the business delegation to the negotiations in Montreal, of which Covington were part.
On August 16th, 2024, in Montreal, Canada, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”) agreed on the draft text (“Draft decision”) for the operationalization of the Global multilateral mechanism for benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information…
New Guides Released Relating to Secure Software Development Requirements
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) released a new guide on August 2, 2024 titled, “Software Acquisition Guide for Government Enterprise Consumers: Software Assurance in the Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) Lifecycle” (the “Software Acquisition Guide”). This guide addresses the cybersecurity risks associated with the acquisition and use of third-party developed software and certain…
European Commission Launches Consultation and Call for Expression of Interest on GPAI Code of Practice
On July 30, 2024, the European Commission announced the launch of a consultation on trustworthy general-purpose artificial intelligence (“GPAI”) models and an invitation to stakeholders to express their interest in participating in the drawing up of the first GPAI Code of Practice (the “Code”) under the newly passed EU AI Act (see our previous blog…
As Interest Grows, FERC Announces Technical Conference Regarding Co-Locating Data Centers
On August 2, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issued a notice of a Commissioner-led technical conference this fall to discuss issues related to co-locating large loads, such as data centers, at generating facilities. A supplemental notice will be issued with the date and time of the technical conference, as well as further…