Intellectual Property Influence; UC Berkeley Law, June 10, 2026

 UC Berkeley Law; Intellectual Property Influence

"An article by Professor Pamela Samuelson has been selected as one of the best intellectual property papers of 2025 and will be included in the next edition of the Intellectual Property Law Review, published annually by Thomson Reuters. It’s the seventh time one of her articles has been recognized this way. 

“Justification for Fair Uses(opens in a new tab),” published in 2025 in the Wisconsin Law Review, explains the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith. Samuelson argues that the ruling preserved the standards for analyzing fair–use defenses the Court laid out in its 1984 Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. decision. 

“Contrary to what some have mistakenly asserted, nothing in Warhol abjures the rich body of fair use case law, both before and after Campbell, that has recognized many types of fair use justifications,” Samuelson writes."

‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI; The Guardian, June 30, 2026

 Robert P Baird, The Guardian ; ‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind AI

"After starting at DeepMind in 2017, Gabriel was, for a time, the only active philosopher working at a frontier AI lab. He quickly discovered that his background in moral philosophy and political theory gave him an unusual perspective in an industry dominated by engineers. Over the past decade, he has assembled a body of work that tracked, and in many cases predicted, the ethical challenges created by the surprising success of large language models (LLMs)...

More generally, Gabriel has been a leading advocate for the idea that the current wave of AI development demands not just new technical vocabularies but also new ways of thinking about our relationship to technology, and even to ourselves. As he put it to me recently, in one of several long conversations we’ve had over the past few months, “I can take any technological artefact and ask: is it wise? Is it just? Is it caring? And the answer is no. But the depth of the question when it comes to AI – including what kind of ethics is appropriate to it – is hard to overstate. I sometimes feel like it’s very hard to look at AI directly. There’s this deep mystery there, which is: but what actually is this thing? We have a very literal answer, but the literal answer doesn’t seem to necessarily provide a moral answer.”

We’re Only Starting to Grasp the Pitfalls of Using A.I. at Work; The New York Times, June 29, 2026

 Noam Scheiber , The New York Times; We’re Only Starting to Grasp the Pitfalls of Using A.I. at Work

Scholars say the “unknown unknowns” of using artificial intelligence in the workplace may be undermining the technology’s advertised benefits.

"In the years since A.I. burst onto the scene, many companies have become aware of flaws produced by the technology and, at times, taken steps to offset them. They know that A.I. models can be biased against certain groups of people, like nonwhites. They know that chatbots can provide confident but incorrect answers to queries. They know that the bots sometimes spill the beans on information that should remain private.

But as companies race to bring A.I. into their day-to-day operations, researchers are discovering more subtle defects."

‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres; The Guardian, June 29, 2026

Zoe Williams, The Guardian; ‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres

"Some of the emails Brockovich gets from people near datacentres express genuine bafflement: “Why did I not know about this? How did this construction just start? Why am I now getting a notice from the city council that this has already passed when I didn’t even have a voice in it?” Others reflect concerns about the impact of the centres: “What about our resources? What’s happening to the water? Who’s paying for all this energy and am I going to foot that bill? What will the future impact on health be from these monstrosities? What’s going to happen to the wildlife?”"

NYT slams Microsoft for building copyright-infringing supercomputer for OpenAI; Ars Technica, June 26, 2026

ASHLEY BELANGER , Ars Technica; NYT slams Microsoft for building copyright-infringing supercomputer for OpenAI

"In a heavily redacted court filing Thursday, The New York Times proposed to amend its copyright complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft to clarify a claim and allege that Microsoft actively encouraged OpenAI to steal NYT works by building a bespoke supercomputing system ranked among the most powerful in the world."

Brookville council approves 180-day moratorium on data centers, water use; WJAC, June 23, 2026

 WJAC; Brookville council approves 180-day moratorium on data centers, water use

"As data centers become a growing point of controversy across the state, officials in Jefferson County are moving to limit potential impacts on local water resources.

Brookville Borough Council approved a 180-day moratorium that pauses potential data center development and blocks the use of borough water resources for those facilities. 

Officials said the decision came after they learned about two possible data center projects in Pine Creek and Rose townships.

Council members said each facility could require more than 1.2 million gallons of water per day."

AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption; The Guardian, June 24, 2026

 Ian Sample, The Guardian; AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption

[Kip Currier: How exciting to learn from this 6/24/26 Guardian article that AI has uncovered more text from an ancient scroll that was charred by Mount Vesuvius's eruption in 79 AD.

I included in my Ethics, Information, and Technology book a "benefits of AI" example from a couple of years ago of just a few words that had been gleaned by AI from one of these blackened scrolls. Now the world has access to "20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll."

This example offers another persuasive argument, too, for the importance of preserving archival artifacts, even if the technologies of the time present roadblocks to discovery and new knowledge. Thankfully, these charred, seemingly impenetrable scrolls were preserved until emerging technologies like AI are now making new discoveries a reality.] 

"The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence.

Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC."

Come for the Books, Stay for the Power Tools; The New York Times, June 27, 2026

 

Sarah Diamond

Illustrations by Gabrielle Lamontagne, 

 The New York Times; Come for the Books, Stay for the Power Tools

"As of 2024, there were more than 2,000 examples of places around the world where patrons have access to objects that might otherwise sit unused in a closet, garage or on a store shelf.

The idea has roots stretching back to World War II-era tool-lending libraries. But researchers say the movement gained momentum after the Great Recession in 2008, when many Americans began questioning whether they needed to own items they used only occasionally. “It’s a reclamation of the commons,” said Shannon Mattern, an author and former professor who studies libraries and public infrastructure."

How Teaching A.I. to Speak Cajun Can Help Save a Language; The New York Times, June 27, 2026

Jonathan Abrams, The New York Times; How Teaching A.I. to Speak Cajun Can Help Save a Language

By feeding centuries-old nursery rhymes and folklore recordings into their own model, linguists in Louisiana hope to help a community control its digital destiny.

"Louisiana French, the oral dialect of which Balfa was a cultural guardian, is part of the Bayou’s societal DNA, a link to its history, music and identity. Today, Caffery described the language as struggling and endangered, a notion reinforced by Alexa’s overlooking Balfa.

In response, Caffery assembled a small team at the center to train its own language learning model in automatic speech recognition for Louisiana French, drawing from a trove of historical artifacts and interviews.

Over the months, as the learning language model is trained on bits of the language — such as an old-age French nursery rhyme — it brings centuries-old dialect closer into the digital age."

Ethical AI rows open way to wave of litigation; Financial Times, June 25, 2026

 Patrick Temple-West , Financial Times; Ethical AI rows open way to wave of litigation

Lawyers are at the forefront of debate and dispute over the technology’s lawful and responsible use

"But while legal professionals ponder how best to ensure their own responsible use of AI, lawyers are also at the forefront of fractious disputes over its lawful and responsible use on behalf of clients...

“For years, the AI ethics debate produced frameworks, guidelines and voluntary commitments that changed almost nothing,” says Marie Potel-Saville, co-founder of Fair Patterns, an AI watchdog. “What is changing the dynamic now is litigation and enforcement,” adding: “Boards that have treated AI ethics as a reputational question will have to treat it as a litigation risk, faster than most of them currently expect.”

Closed Flagstaff venue Yucca North hit with copyright infringement lawsuit; Arizona Daily Sun, June 24, 2026

SAM MCLAUGHLIN , Arizona Daily Sun; Closed Flagstaff venue Yucca North hit with copyright infringement lawsuit

"And this week, to add insult to injury, Yucca North’s owners were sued by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for alleged nonpayment of music licensing fees and copyright infringement...

The complaint against Yucca North references three specific songs that were allegedly performed without permission on Nov. 10 or 11, 2025: “Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots; “Creep” by Radiohead; and “Play that Funky Music” by Wild Cherry.

ASCAP also sued 11 other businesses in different states, on similar grounds of copyright infringement.

“Tens of thousands of well-run establishments across the country recognize the value of music and obtain ASCAP blanket licenses because music attracts customers, causes them to stay longer and spend more money,” ASCAP executive vice president Stephanie Ruyle said in a press release announcing the litigation. “U.S. copyright law requires that businesses compensate the creators of that music when they use it, and ASCAP ensures the creators of that music get paid. However, each of the establishments sued today has chosen to infringe upon the hard work of songwriters instead of licensing the music they play, despite repeated notifications and opportunities to do so.”

ASCAP claims that Yucca North stopped paying music licensing fees in September 2024."

The AI backlash is only getting started; The Economist, June 25, 2026

  The Economist; The AI backlash is only getting started

"Advances in artificial intelligence have long terrified techies. Lately, voters are feeling the angst, too. ai is unpopular in the West and climbing up the political agenda. The fiercest fights so far have been in America, where protests against data centres have scuppered nearly $100bn-worth of projects, warring ai megadonors have just dumped tens of millions into a Manhattan congressional race and around 40% of voters tell pollsters that they want ai banned from most industries. But spats are breaking out elsewhere: after chipmaking profits soared recently, workers at Samsung in South Korea threatened a strike to secure special payouts."

The New York Times Amends Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft; The New York Times, June 25, 2026

Cade Metz , The New York Times; The New York Times Amends Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft

"The New York Times amended its lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft on Thursday, modifying one claim against Microsoft and dropping another against OpenAI, according to a legal filing in federal court...

In a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, The Times accused Microsoft of encouraging OpenAI to train its A.I. systems using copyrighted articles from The Times and of providing services designed to help with this training.

The Times also dropped a claim from its original lawsuit, filed in 2023, accusing OpenAI of “secondarily” infringing on its copyrights because it did not prevent consumers and businesses from generating copyrighted material using A.I."

How to burst the AI bubble: Strike at its roots; Ars Technica, June 23, 2026

 JENNIFER OUELLETTE , Ars Technica; How to burst the AI bubble: Strike at its roots

Sci-fi author/tech journalist Cory Doctorow on his new book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI.

"Doctorow is not virulently anti-AI; he uses AI tools regularly and sees potential in many of those tools as useful plugins or cool new apps. But he is nonetheless alarmed at all the hype surrounding AI, the enormous capital expenditures, the unrealistic expectations and self-serving messaging, and the potentially catastrophic economic consequences when the AI bubble inevitably pops...

Ars Technica: Why do you think AI is so appealing to political and business leaders in particular? 

Cory Doctorow: It’s not just that it makes for a good demo. AI really appeals to a fantasy that I think all of us have to some extent but that powerful people really have, of a world without people in it—because hell really is other people. You can’t get stuff done without other people helping you. You can’t have romance without a romantic partner. You can’t have social media without people to socialize with. You can’t play a board game, or do a startup, or build a bridge, or build a house, or do politics without other people. And other people stubbornly refuse to organize everything they do to make you happy.

Particularly if you’re rich and powerful, it’s very galling. So AI is very attractive. One of the reasons DOGE fired so many government workers was because it played into the fantasy that you can have a government without government employees. In the corporate sphere, it’s the fantasy of a business without workers, because every corporate leader is haunted by the secret fear that if they don’t show up for work, everything goes on just fine. But if the workers don’t show up, everything shuts down. Maybe they’re not really driving the car, maybe they’re strapped in the backseat with a toy steering wheel."

Nearly 400 local newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over alleged copyright theft; New Jersey Globe, June 24, 2025

David Wildstein, New Jersey Globe ; Nearly 400 local newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over alleged copyright theft

"The massive coalition of local newspaper publishers filed a federal lawsuit today against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the technology companies systematically copied copyrighted reporting from nearly 400 local newspapers to train and develop commercial artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, without permission or compensation.

The publishers, represented by Platkin LLP, a law firm founded earlier this year by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, contend that OpenAI and Microsoft unlawfully appropriated original news content to build their AI systems, violating the Copyright Act and threatening the future of local journalism.

The lawsuit also alleges that OpenAI knowingly stripped copyright management information from publishers’ work — including author bylines, copyright notices, and terms of use information — in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The complaint cites remarks by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, who acknowledged during testimony before the British House of Lords that it would be “impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials.”"