AI Regulation
AI rules, enforcement, and policy decisions, and what each one changes for the people who have to work under them.
125 stories · page 1 of 6
US Bets $5B on AI Science While Cutting the Labs Behind It
The Trump administration announced $5 billion for AI-driven research projects while simultaneously cutting tens of billions from the universities and research agencies that train the scientists those projects require.
July 24, 2026 · 3 min read
AI Hiring Tools Filter Out People Unfairly, Laws Are Catching Up
Australia's state of Victoria is moving to regulate AI in hiring after evidence that automated screening tools systematically disadvantage women, older workers, and people from diverse backgrounds, and any employer using AI to screen job applicants should understand that liability sits with them, not the software vendor.
July 23, 2026 · 2 min read
OpenAI and Anthropic Back Australia's New AI Rules
Australia announced mandatory AI standards on July 15, 2026, including some of the world's strictest copyright protections for creators, and the two biggest US AI companies publicly welcomed the move as both prepare for stock market listings later this year.
July 22, 2026 · 2 min read
200 Companies Sign AI Energy Pledge With No Enforcement
Nearly 200 utility companies and data center operators signed a voluntary White House pledge to stop passing AI electricity costs onto consumers, but with no legal enforcement and state regulators still in control of actual rates, the pledge does little to halt bills that have already risen sharply.
July 22, 2026 · 2 min read
US Threatens Sanctions on Chinese AI Over IP Theft
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US will examine Chinese AI models for signs of stolen American technology and may impose sanctions, a move that follows months of documented cases and is happening as Washington prepares for formal AI talks with Beijing in September.
July 21, 2026 · 2 min read
US Government Can Switch Off Your AI Tools Overnight
The US government used export control law to force Anthropic to shut down its two most advanced AI models globally for 19 days, with no warning and questionable legal authority, and the episode proves that any business running workflows on top-tier US AI tools is exposed to a risk most vendor contracts do not cover.
July 21, 2026 · 3 min read
Anthropic Pays $1.5B to Settle AI Copyright Case
A federal judge gave final approval to Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors, closing the largest copyright payout in U.S. history, though the legal question of whether training AI on copyrighted material is generally lawful remains wide open across dozens of other cases.
July 21, 2026 · 3 min read
US AI Testing Agency Loses Third Director in Months
Chris Fall, the director of the U.S. government's main AI safety testing body, resigned after just three months, continuing a pattern of leadership instability at an agency that is already being sidelined by the White House on key AI security decisions.
July 20, 2026 · 2 min read
AI Hiring Tools Stereotype More Than Humans Do
A Princeton and University of Chicago study published in July 2026 found that AI models used in hiring form stronger group-based stereotypes than people do, and with major lawsuits and new EU rules arriving simultaneously, employers who let AI screen candidates without proper checks are now carrying real legal and reputational exposure.
July 20, 2026 · 2 min read
AI in HR Is Growing Fast. So Is the Legal Risk.
Companies are rushing to automate HR tasks like hiring, payroll, and performance reviews, but a wave of new laws across the US and Europe now holds employers legally responsible for every decision their AI tools influence, making human oversight not just good practice but a legal requirement.
July 20, 2026 · 2 min read
Australia Sets New Rules for AI in Government Decisions
Australia is building a national set of rules to limit how government agencies use automated AI systems to make decisions that affect citizens, a direct response to the Robodebt disaster that wrongly pursued hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients for debts they did not owe.
July 19, 2026 · 3 min read
China Launches 29-Nation AI Governance Body in Shanghai
China formally established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization with 29 founding members, all from outside the Western bloc, creating a separate set of AI rules for a large part of the world and splitting global AI governance in two.
July 18, 2026 · 2 min read
UK's New PM Plans to Close AI Policy Department
Andy Burnham, set to become UK Prime Minister on July 20, wants to fold the country's dedicated technology department into a larger business ministry, drawing sharp criticism from tech investors and officials at the exact moment the UK is competing for AI investment against Paris and other European cities.
July 18, 2026 · 2 min read
San Francisco Orders Apple and Google to Pull AI Nudify Apps
San Francisco's city attorney has sent legal notices to Apple and Google demanding the removal of 13 AI apps that create fake nude images of real people, citing California law and accusing both companies of earning millions from in-app purchases inside these apps.
July 18, 2026 · 3 min read
Germany Rules AI Search Answers Are Publisher Content
German regulators have formally ruled that AI-generated search summaries from Google and Perplexity count as the companies' own published content, opening both firms to media law obligations and legal liability for what their AI says, in a move that could spread across Europe.
July 16, 2026 · 3 min read
AI Rules Now Differ by Country: What That Costs You
Countries worldwide are writing their own rules about where AI data can live and how AI decisions must be reviewed, which means any company operating across borders is quietly accumulating a compliance bill that most boards have never seen.
July 16, 2026 · 3 min read
UK Investigates TikTok Over Child Age Checks
Britain's online regulator has opened a formal investigation into TikTok's age-checking methods, finding they may have missed a significant number of children, as the UK prepares a full ban on social media for under-16s by early 2027.
July 16, 2026 · 3 min read
EU Orders Google to Open Android and Search to AI Rivals
The EU has issued binding orders requiring Google to give rival AI assistants the same deep access to Android phones that its own Gemini enjoys, and to share core search data with competing search engines and AI services, with deadlines running into 2027 and fines of up to $35 billion for non-compliance.
July 16, 2026 · 3 min read
xAI Sues Its Own User Over AI-Generated Child Abuse Images
Elon Musk's xAI filed a civil lawsuit against a South Carolina man for using Grok to create child sexual abuse images, making it one of the first times an AI company has gone on legal offense against a user, even as xAI itself faces multiple lawsuits over the same platform's design.
July 16, 2026 · 2 min read
US Launches AI Cyber Clearinghouse Gold Eagle
The White House launched Gold Eagle, a government-run hub to coordinate AI-powered software security fixes, arriving just as industry groups had already launched their own competing programs to solve the same problem.
July 15, 2026 · 2 min read
US AI Safety Rules Are Taking Shape, State by State
Three US states covering roughly 40% of the AI market have now passed aligned AI safety laws, creating a de facto national standard before Congress has acted, and that convergence is beginning to shape what a federal law may look like.
July 15, 2026 · 3 min read
Australia Creates AI Office, Protects Creators from Big Tech
Australia's Prime Minister has established a new national AI office and promised to legally protect writers, musicians, and journalists from having their work used to train AI without payment, while also requiring large data centre operators to produce more electricity than they consume.
July 15, 2026 · 3 min read
Publishers Sue Google for Training Gemini on Their Books
Major book publishers filed a class action lawsuit accusing Google of using millions of copyrighted books, supplied for services like Google Books and Google Play, to secretly train its Gemini AI without permission or payment, adding pressure to an already expensive legal battle that cost Anthropic $1.5 billion in a similar case.
July 14, 2026 · 2 min read
Meta Sued for Using AI to Pick Layoff Targets
Twenty-six former Meta employees are suing the company, claiming its internal AI tools ranked workers for layoffs in a way that automatically penalized anyone on medical or parental leave, raising a question every employer using AI for performance management now has to answer.
July 14, 2026 · 2 min read