Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

Artificial intelligence (AI) is top of mind for all businesses looking to grow. Economic researchers point to AI as a key factor to boost the economy, and believe that AI could result in billions, if not trillions, of dollars in technology-related spending. However, this potential growth will not be possible in isolation; it requires massive amounts of supporting infrastructure.

In our latest blog post on preparing for the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), entering into force on January 17, 2025, we take a look at second-level requirements under DORA covering the classification and reporting of major information and communications technology (ICT) related incidents. These requirements will need to be addressed through operational risk management frameworks and contract remediation efforts with technology vendors.

Beginning January 17, 2025, financial entities based in the European Union must have in place processes and policies, and mandatory contract provisions with their third-party technology vendors, that comply with the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

Starting January 17, 2025, financial entities based in the European Union must have in place processes and policies, as well as mandatory contract provisions with their third-party technology vendors, that comply with the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Financial entities are currently at varying stages of updating their operational risk management frameworks and remediating contracts with technology vendors. For banks, the European Central Bank has signaled that resiliency will be a top priority on its supervisory agenda.

As part of our Technology Marathon webinar series, partners Kristin Lee, Mike Pierides, and Steven Stone recently discussed financial regulators’ increasing focus on artificial intelligence (AI).

Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total more than $5 trillion in 2024, with 10% year-on-year growth of spending on data center systems, according to recent analysis from Gartner. The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions is driving demand for technology infrastructure in order to meet greater data storage and network infrastructure requirements and more compute-intensive workloads.

Beginning January 17, 2025, the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) will require financial entities to maintain and submit to EU regulators a comprehensive register of their contractual arrangements with third-party information and communication technology (ICT) service providers. Financial entities are being given the opportunity to sign up for a voluntary reporting exercise by May 31, 2024, running between July and August 2024, to help them prepare for one of the most challenging aspects of implementing DORA.

We recently published a report based on our four-part series on Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis, in which we consider a number of conundrums facing companies looking to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) as part of their outsourcing arrangements. As outsourcing remains a key tool through which companies can streamline operations, cut costs, and access specialized expertise, the explosive advancements in AI and related technologies have introduced new and exciting opportunities and complexities for companies in implementing and maintaining outsourcing relationships.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published an update paper outlining its concerns with artificial intelligence (AI) foundation models (FMs). Market players in this space should remain mindful of the CMA’s growing interest as the regulator continues its dedicated program to consider the impact of FMs on markets throughout 2024, with a further update anticipated in August.

In the rapidly evolving world of software licensing and distribution, many vendors (and therefore customers) are considering a shift from traditional customer-hosted software solutions to Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, which are hosted by the vendor and then accessed by the customer’s users remotely. This transition is not merely an infrastructure change, and may also involve significant modifications to business operations and legal agreements. Here are some key considerations for businesses planning to make this shift.