Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

The UK government published its first National Quantum Strategy (the Strategy) on March 15, setting out £2.5 billion (over $3 billion) in funding quantum research and naming a quantum computing industry as a strategic priority for the United Kingdom. The following day, the science and technology committee of the UK House of Commons (the Committee) announced a new inquiry on turning quantum technologies into commercial products. As quantum-focused startups proliferate, UK policymakers are demonstrating their intent to enable early-mover advantages in the sector.

Please join us on April 12, 2023 at 12:00–1:00 pm ET as Morgan Lewis partners Vito Petretti and Anastasia Dergacheva and of counsel Eric J. Pennesi discuss key topics for customers to evaluate when acquiring new technology solutions or expanding technology offerings within their current environments.

The UK government published a white paper on March 29 setting out a “pro-innovation” UK regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI). The framework centers upon five cross-sectoral principles, of which implementation will be context-specific to the use of AI, rather than the technology itself. The government does not propose introducing a new regulator or any new legal requirements on businesses, instead leveraging existing powers of UK regulators and their domain-specific expertise.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are transforming industries and everyday life—but they are not without potential legal issues. ML, a subfield of AI, involves developing algorithms and statistical models that enable computers to learn and make decisions or predictions based on data without explicit programming. As ML systems improve over time with exposure to new data, they present new legal challenges for attorneys and businesses to navigate.

The use of open-source software (OSS) is ubiquitous. Depending on what license governs the type of OSS a company uses and how it uses the OSS, OSS use impacts the valuation of the intellectual property (IP) used by a company or transferred in a merger or acquisition (M&A). Thus, OSS-related representations and warranties have become an integral part of the IP representations and warranties in M&A transactions and financings.

Until early 2023, a public disagreement regarding open intellectual property licenses was ongoing between the owner of a significant piece of popular content—the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)—and the individuals and corporates that engage with it for free.

In the era of digital transformation, businesses increasingly rely on software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for various operational needs. For a buyer, it is crucial to prioritize data security when negotiating SaaS contracts to safeguard sensitive information and comply with data protection regulations. In this post, we explore the essential data security provisions buyers should consider when entering into SaaS agreements.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a distribution model where the software vendor hosts their software on their own servers, or the cloud, as opposed to the customer purchasing the software for use on their own on-premises servers.

OpenAI has introduced its artificial intelligence (AI) language model, ChatGPT, to the world. ChatGPT interacts with users in a conversational manner to create human-like text in response to prompts. The use cases of this potentially disruptive technology appear to be limitless as it has the ability to generate text on a wide variety of topics, including contract drafting. Naturally, lawyers and nonlawyers alike are considering whether ChatGPT is useful as a contract drafting tool.

Please join us on March 8, 2023 at 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm ET for the next installment of the Global Digital Transformation Webinar series, focused on Open Source Software.