Key Legal Issues in Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive Guide for Business and Counsel

64 questions on key legal issues in artificial intelligence, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can AI-generated content be copyrighted?
• Can AI technology be patented?
• Can an AI system be named as an inventor on a patent?
• Can an AI vendor be liable for employment discrimination, or only the employer?
• Can an autonomous AI system be the "actor" whose care is measured in a tort case?
• Can an invention made with AI assistance be patented?
• Does existing insurance cover AI-related losses?
• Does running facial recognition on an ordinary photograph trigger BIPA?
• Does the federal push to preempt state AI laws mean companies can ignore them?
• Do other states regulate biometric data the way Illinois does?
• How are AI assets treated in bankruptcy?
• How can an AI hiring tool violate anti-discrimination law?
• How can an AI hiring tool violate the Americans with Disabilities Act?
• How does the Alice test apply to AI patent claims?
• How does the disparate-impact framework apply to AI hiring tools?
• How does the GDPR regulate automated decision-making?
• How do patent, copyright, and trade secret compare for protecting AI?
• How do purpose limitation and data minimization conflict with machine learning?
• How do the three products-liability theories apply to AI?
• How is fault apportioned when a robot or automated system injures a worker?
• How should a company using a pricing algorithm limit antitrust exposure?
• How should an AI invention be claimed to survive Section 101?
• If we only use a third-party AI vendor's tool, are we still exposed?
• Is a training dataset protected by copyright?
• Is autonomous algorithmic price convergence an antitrust violation?
• Is it legal to train an AI model on copyrighted material?
• Is "the algorithm said so" a defense to a discrimination claim?
• Is there a federal AI statute in the United States?
• What are the costs of patenting an AI invention?
• What are the limits of trade-secret protection for AI?
• What data-rights issues arise in AI services agreements?
• What does ABA Formal Opinion 512 require of lawyers using generative AI?
• What does Illinois's BIPA require of companies handling biometric data?
• What does the EU AI Act require and when do its obligations apply?
• What do the USPTO's eligibility examples teach about drafting AI claims?
• What Federal Circuit cases show how a software or AI patent survives Section 101?
• What five things is a company actually licensing in an AI agreement?
• What governance measures reduce AI liability exposure?
• What happened in Mata v. Avianca and why does it matter?
• What is a hub-and-spoke theory in algorithmic pricing?
• What is algorithmic collusion and when is it illegal?
• What is divided infringement and why does it matter for AI?
• What is the compliance playbook for an AI feature that reads faces or voices?
• What is the four-fifths rule and how does it apply to an AI screening tool?
• What is the legal definition of artificial intelligence?
• What is the operational checklist for a lawyer using AI tools?
• What is the overall direction of travel in AI law?
• What legal obligations arise when AI displaces jobs?
• What parts of an AI system does copyright protect?
• What should a company's cross-functional AI compliance program cover?
• What state and local laws regulate AI in hiring?
• What two qualifications limited the 2025 AI training fair-use wins?
• What workplace-safety obligations attach to AI systems working alongside people?
• When is an AI developer a HIPAA business associate?
• Who should own the improved versions of a model that learns from customer data?
• Why are AI hiring tools particularly attractive targets for class actions?
• Why can indemnity carve-outs swallow an AI infringement indemnity whole?
• Why do conventional software warranties fit AI badly?
• Why does Section 112 create special problems for AI patents?
• Why does the legal classification of an AI system matter so much?
• Why is artificial intelligence such a difficult problem for the legal system?
• Why is BIPA so dangerous for AI companies?
• Why is scraped training data especially dangerous under BIPA?
• Why is trade secrecy the default protection for AI systems?