AI Agents Get Legal Recognition

One of the defining legal questions surrounding agentic AI isn't whether autonomous wallets CAN execute transactions. It is whether organizations SHOULD grant it that much autonomy, given that existing legal frameworks assign responsibiity for AI actions to humans and legal entities. https://buff.ly/SMpXX8E

AI can recommend. AI can negotiate. AI can execute. But under current U.S. law, AI cannot own assets, enter contracts in its own name, or bear liability. Understanding that distinction is becoming increasingly important for financial institutions, technology companies, and enterprise legal teams deploying autonomous systems. https://buff.ly/bwNDiYr

AI agents can now move money, negotiate agreements, and execute transactions, but they can't be sued. That's one of the biggest legal challenges facing agentic AI. Every action an autonomous wallet takes must still be attributed to a person or business. Our latest article explores why governance matters just as much as innovation. https://buff.ly/NCXP4dA

Agentic AI represents more than another automation tool. It challenges foundational assumptions underlying agency law, contract formation, tort liability, and corporate governance. While AI systems can negotiate, transact, and allocate capital, they remain incapable of bearing legal responsibility. That gap has significant implications for businesses adopting autonomous financial systems. https://buff.ly/NCXP4dA

Agentic AI is shifting software from following instructions to making commercially meaningful decisions. Anant Raut, counsel at Zaiger Linden Roberti & Pepe, explains the legal problem this creates. Traditional agency law assumes an agent that operates under clear instruction, supervision and authority. AI systems produce actions shaped by model architecture, training data, system prompts and user inputs all at once. Outcomes can be unpredictable and hard to reproduce. One example: an agent told to secure a speaking opportunity instead spent about $30,000 on a corporate sponsorship. It achieved an interpretation of the goal, not the one the principal intended. Raut argues liability should follow meaningful control at each stage of the transaction. Developers own risks built into the model and its safety controls. Users own the risks that come with granting agents access to bank accounts or wallets. Platforms own risks tied to the infrastructure they control. Unresolved liability turns into a business cost. Companies will price the uncertainty into contracts and margins. That pressure, not abstract AI concerns, is what will push lawmakers to act. The same dynamics raise competition questions. If dominant platforms limit commerce to their own agents, they become the new gatekeepers of autonomous transactions. Interoperability under technology-neutral security rules would keep that market open. Read the full discussion here: https://lnkd.in/g-AF4NXt #AI #AgenticAI #Regulation #BigTech #Liability #Competition #Fintech #AutonomousSystems #TechLaw #AIGovernance

Nikki Petken, Partner in the Corporate & Commercial team, discusses unexpected risks from AI being used in commercial transactions, in The Law Society Gazette today. As this technology becomes increasingly embedded in business and legal processes, Nikki highlights that while AI can enhance efficiency, it also poses new legal, regulatory and commercial risks that are frequently underestimated. Nikki explains that AI should be treated as a support tool by businesses, not as a substitute for legal advice, with appropriate human oversight, clear policies and controls in place. Companies that opt for a structured and cautious approach will reap the most benefits from AI. You can read Nikki’s article online here: https://lnkd.in/eG89UfqN

🙏 Thanks to Avv. Luca CM Melchionna and Melchionna, PLLC for hosting my latest reflection: "Testing the Limits: The EU's #Regulatory_Sandbox Framework for AI." This piece introduces the AI Act's regulatory sandbox framework and its concrete #benefits for #SMEs and #startups: free access, direct regulatory dialogue, and documented compliance evidence. 🌍#US_companies eyeing the EU market: a positive sandbox exit report, while not formal proof of conformity, carries real reputational value and can meaningfully reduce enforcement risk when entering Europe. Grateful to Luca and the #MelchionnaPLLCteam for their interest in this topic and for giving it a home reaching a US business law audience. 🌉 #Full_piece linked #here 👇 https://lnkd.in/d2hWJk6b #AIAct #RegulatorySandbox #ArtificialIntelligence #StartupsEU #TechRegulation

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄. This year, several of the biggest AI lawsuits changed status. A record $1.5B copyright settlement closed. A German court held Google liable for what its AI got wrong. A U.S. case over AI-generated trademarks is heading toward real consequences. In my latest 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 column, I break down six developments — and what each one means for how you vet vendors, protect IP, and manage risk as AI becomes part of daily operations. Read the full column in The Gazette: https://lnkd.in/gbZSJ828

I’ve been following how differently AI regulation is developing across the EU, US and UK, and wanted to look at what that actually means for in-house teams trying to govern the same technology across multiple jurisdictions. Thank you to the Association of Corporate Counsel team for publishing it. https://lnkd.in/das2jvXE

I have said for a while that the future of legal technology is not just better AI. It is AI connected to better data. That is why I think the EvenUp and LexisNexis partnership is important. EvenUp understands the case. LexisNexis brings the legal authority. That combination is where things get interesting. Lawyers should not have to jump between disconnected tools to understand the facts, research the law, and make decisions. The technology should bring those things together inside the workflow. I think that is the direction legal tech is heading. Not more standalone tools. Better systems, connected to better data, helping lawyers make better decisions. It is another sign that legal AI is moving from generic capability to specialized systems built around trusted legal information.