Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, and are in the process of revolutionizing various industries worldwide. As these technologies continue to advance, our firm remains at the forefront of the legal landscape, offering comprehensive and cutting-edge counsel to help our clients address the complex legal issues arising from the development and deployment of AI.
We recognize the transformative potential of AI and have established a highly skilled cross-disciplinary team of lawyers that comprise our AI initiative to serve clients. Our team of lawyers, with experience spanning diverse practices, have a passion for technology and its impact on business and the law. We are equipped to advise and support clients currently developing AI applications, seeking to procure and integrate AI technologies into their operations, products, and services, and making capital investments to acquire AI technologies.
We advise on development, procurement, and use of a wide range of AI technologies, including large language models and other generative AI technologies. Our experience extends to areas such as natural language processing, recommendation systems, AI models for predictive analytics, computer vision technologies (including facial recognition), speech recognition technologies, virtual assistants and chatbots, fintech, automation and robotics, healthcare and medical applications, and Internet of Things networks. We counsel clients across various industries and sectors, including financial services, life sciences and healthcare, education, energy and infrastructure, technology, media, telecommunications, transportation, logistics, manufacturing, retail, and government. With our extensive experience in both national and cross-border transactions, we effectively manage routine and complex engagements covering a wide range of technologies.
Mitigating the risks, and leveraging the potential benefits, of rapidly-evolving AI technology will require agility, flexibility, and a wide-range of specialized skill. Our global team of lawyers comprises professionals from diverse practice areas, including:
Intellectual Property;
Data Protection, Privacy, and Security;
Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions;
Emerging Growth and Venture Capital;
Technology Transactions and Sourcing;
Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety;
Commercial Disputes;
Insurance Recovery and Counseling;
Ethics and ESG;
Antitrust, Competition, and Trade Regulation; and
Policy and Government Regulation.
We have been at the forefront of the efforts for ethical development of AI, establishing the K&L Gates Endowment for Ethics and Computational Technologies. This landmark US$10 million gift to Carnegie Mellon University supports the study of ethical issues related to artificial intelligence. The endowment has facilitated the creation of new faculty chairs, doctoral student presidential fellowships, a biennial CMU K&L Gates conference on Ethics and AI, and an undergraduate scholarship.
By combining our multidisciplinary experience, global reach, and proactive engagement with emerging AI technologies, we are dedicated to advising clients as they navigate the legal complexities surrounding these technologies while embracing the immense opportunities they present.
This edition of The Essentials coincides with the close of California’s 2025 legislative session and summarizes the most significant employment-related bills enacted this year. We have highlighted key provisions of the new laws taking effect in 2026 and one related to the use of artificial intelligence that took effect in October 2025.
Since returning to office in January 2025, President Trump has made broad assertions of executive authority, including the power to fire independent agency heads at will. For almost a century, these officials have been protected by law from such “without cause” removals, enjoying insulation from direct presidential control. That status quo—rooted in the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States—is on the verge of transformation.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes major changes to the Internal Revenue Code’s clean energy tax provisions, particularly to the provisions that were extended, expanded, and established as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
In many ways, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or Commission) Fiscal Year 2026 Examination Priorities (Priorities), published on 17 November 2025 by the Division of Examinations, track the priorities of prior years, making clear that the Commission remains focused, as ever, on monitoring for risks to the investing public.
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