Cambridge Analytica just keeps on giving Meta headaches…

https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-new-mexico-jury-cambridge-analytica-verdict

Jury finds Meta misled New Mexico users over Cambridge Analytica

A jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, found on Friday that Facebook deceived users about how it protected their data, including in its response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Jurors found more than 43 million violations of the state’s consumer protection law, Mikella Schuettler reported for the Associated Press.

The count is based on the number of people affected by Meta’s misleading statements, Diana Novak Jones reported for Reuters. Judge Francis Mathew can award up to $5,000 per violation, and the state will ask for the maximum. If he awards that for every violation, Meta could owe more than $200 billion, according to the AP. The judge will set the penalty at a hearing on 1 October.

Not even flea bites, but annoying at least. (Is Putin looking for something that provokes no response?)

https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-vladimir-putin-is-testing-nato-on-norways-remote-arctic-islands/

Putin is testing NATO on Norway’s remote Arctic islands

… Fears are growing that Moscow could use the sprawling Arctic archipelago — a part of Norway with an unusual legal status — to test NATO militarily amid growing uncertainty over the U.S. commitment to European defense.

Allies suspect Russia of probing crucial undersea cables in the waters off Svalbard and staging military-style events that test the limits of the rules governing its presence there. As Russia ramps up hybrid attacks across Europe, Oslo is racing to boost its naval and surveillance capabilities to protect its northern flank, while local authorities on Svalbard are investing in critical infrastructure — and even have an evacuation plan in place.

(Related)

https://nypost.com/2026/09/27/world-news/finland-and-sweden-scramble-fighter-jets-together-against-russia-in-historic-first/

Finland and Sweden scramble fighter jets together against Russia in historic first

Finnish and Swedish fighter jets scrambled for the first time on Sept. 24 to intercept supersonic Russian military aircraft flying over the Gulf of Finland, marking a major milestone in Nordic defense cooperation amid heightened tensions with Moscow.

Not sure I get this argument. Keep my AI generating text until I find one I like?

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7486179

Adoption as Authorship

The U.S. Copyright Office treats expression generated by AI as categorically unprotectable, even when a human directs the process and incorporates the output into a work. This Article argues that the Office's position rests on a mistaken model of authorship, in which the author must personally generate each element of fixed expression or at least transcribe a precise mental conception formed in advance. Neither model describes how authors actually work. Creation proceeds by trial and error. Authors generate expressive variations, often through processes they do not control, and settle on results that fulfill an intent that may itself change along the way. Photographers shooting in burst mode, Ellsworth Kelly’s randomly dropped paper fragments, and Judge Frank’s “clap of thunder” in Alfred Bell & Co. v. Catalda all show that copyright already recognizes authorship of expression the author did not deliberately generate. The Article contends that the irreducible act of authorship is adoption, meaning the choice to treat a set of sensory signals as the embodiment of one's expressive intent. The joint authorship cases support this account. They locate authorship in decision-making authority over what the work will contain, not in the generation of content. The adoption theory does not license appropriating preexisting material, because originality doctrine separately bars claims to the commons or to others' expression. On this reading, originality works like the Lockean limits on appropriation. AI output is abundant and takes nothing from the commons, so there is no principled reason to deny protection to a human author who adopts it as her own expression.

Collective liability?

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003736134-11/autonomous-vehicles-scarlett-swain-lisa-collingwood

Autonomous Vehicles

As the autonomous vehicle industry shifts toward collaborative innovation models – through patent pools, FRAND licensing, and shared software stacks – existing legal frameworks struggle to keep pace. While intellectual property (IP) law encourages proprietary innovation, these new modes of cooperation demand a rethinking of how both innovation and liability are shared. This chapter critically evaluates how collaborative IP organisation in the autonomous vehicle industry are reshaping traditional boundaries of legal responsibility, particularly in the context of tort law. It argues that the current model of isolated liability is incompatible with a horizontally integrated autonomous vehicle sector where numerous actors contribute to safety-critical infrastructure. The chapter proposes a framework – a Collaborative Risk Doctrine – that links IP sharing with proportional liability allocation. This includes safe harbour provisions for open-standard compliance, and model licensing agreements that incorporate tort risk-sharing procedures. Regulation can align innovation incentives with accountability in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.

We’re not at war. We’re not at war. We’re not at war.

https://abcnews.com/International/uk-police-arrest-explosives-act-major-incident-us/story?id=136793301

UK police arrest several under explosives act in 'major incident' near US air base

British police announced on Sunday morning that several people were arrested "on suspicion of offenses under the explosives act" close to a major air base hosting U.S. forces in the southwest of England.

"A number of properties are currently being evacuated in the Whelford area following the declaration of a major incident," Gloucestershire Police said in a statement. "It follows the arrest of several men on suspicion of offenses under the explosives act."

The village of Whelford is located around 2 miles from RAF Fairford, which hosts the U.S. Air Force and has since February been serving as a key hub for American operations against Iran -- including for heavy bombers like the B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress.

Would Congress view such laws as limiting their own future earnings?

https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/09/only-congress-can-intervene-on-trumps-truth-social-profiteering/

Only Congress Can Intervene on Trump’s Truth Social Profiteering

What the president and his associates are doing is probably illegal. Whether any legal action could successfully be brought is another matter.

Yet again, an appalling example of profiteering off the nation’s highest office by Donald Trump and his family illustrates that the legal system is not equipped to address abuses of executive power. In our system, either Congress acts or there is no remedy any time soon, perhaps ever.

Apparently Trump does not know that the name has already been taken.

https://www.axios.com/2026/09/25/trump-ai-super-intelligence-tech-definition

Inside Trump's "super intelligence" naming problem

President Trump is pushing world leaders and U.S. agencies to rename AI "super intelligence."

Why it matters: "Superintelligence" already has a distinct meaning in AI — and is fueling debates over whether the most advanced systems should be slowed or stopped.

The big picture: Superintelligence — broadly, AI that surpasses human cognition — has become both an industry ambition and the focus of efforts to slow its development or ban it altogether.

Yes, but: Trump doesn't seem to be talking about that kind of superintelligent AI.

• "The use of the word 'artificial' ... makes it sound fake," he said before the UN General Assembly gathering on Tuesday, adding, "it is not fake. It's actually amazing."

• He announced that all "United States documents, and hopefully the world's, will be changed to use the much more accurate term 'super' as opposed to artificial."

Some places are still private?

https://www.courthousenews.com/fourth-circuit-calls-real-time-cellphone-tracking-a-search/

Fourth Circuit calls real-time cellphone tracking a search

Police wanting to use a device mimicking a cellphone tower to locate people must first get a warrant, a Fourth Circuit panel ruled Thursday.

Kerron Andrews was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department in May 2014, after the police secured a court order allowing them to use a cell-site simulator to obtain his real-time location information. Andrews’ cellphone provider had allowed the police to determine his location within a few blocks, before the police used a simulator to determine he was in a specific townhouse.

Andrews told the Fourth Circuit panel this past January that the court order did not satisfy the Fourth Circuit’s warrant requirement. The panel disagreed Thursday, while recognizing that cellphones pose a unique threat to individual privacy.

The precision of the technology used by the police is invasive, U.S. Circuit Judge Nicole Berner wrote for the majority, and people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a private home. The Joe Biden appointee was joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Toby Heytens, also a Biden appointee.

“This technology is akin to sense-enhancing technology that allows the government to peer into a private home, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly held requires a warrant,” she wrote. The cell-site simulator effectively “cracked open the front door” of the property to reveal Andrews, she said.

Should we consider this a ‘war warning?’

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/europe/europe-frets-kremlin-pushes-limits-hybrid-warfare-rcna599351

Europe frets as the Kremlin pushes the limits of its hybrid warfare

The Kremlin is testing Europe‘s limits.

After months of covert attacks and sabotage across the continent, leaders are warning that Moscow may be about to grow bolder as it seeks to sow chaos and intimidate allies of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test NATO’s resolve to defend members on its eastern flank or respond to attacks that fall short of all-out war, these officials say, at a time when the U.S. is distracted by other conflicts and weighing reducing its military presence in Europe.

An assessment by the Danish Defence Intelligence Service released Thursday warned that in the coming months Moscow will further intensify its campaign of so-called hybrid warfare, “with greater consequences for the targeted countries than in the past.” It also assessed “a low but growing risk that Russia will launch a limited military attack against one or several NATO countries bordering Russia.”

And others?

https://www.bespacific.com/thirteen-ai-books-for-lawyers-an-opinionated-guide/

Thirteen AI Books For Lawyers: An Opinionated Guide

Via LLRX – Thirteen AI Books For Lawyers: An Opinionated Guide – There’s an obvious objection to recommending books about AI: timeliness. Any book about the tools themselves is out of date by the time it’s printed. But that misses the point, as Jerry Lawson points out. Good books are still better than a vendor demo or a post at providing a framework for understanding what these systems do well, where they break down, and which failures should worry someone holding a bar card.

See? AI can pay for itself. (Unless you are in the insurance industry…)

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/ai-tools-generated-nearly-1-billion-extra-costs-blue-cross-insurers-say-2026-09-24/

AI tools generated nearly $1 billion in extra costs, Blue Cross insurers say

AI tools are raising health spending for insurers by nearly $1 billion over two years, as providers bill for more severe patient care, according to a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association study released Thursday.

Between 2024 and ‌2025, providers more frequently billed for secondary conditions, or those stemming from a separate illness from the one they were treating, driving costs up by $653 million for BCBS companies during that period. Overall, more intense care contributed $942 million in costs to BCBS firms over the two-year period, when compared to 2023, the study added.

BCBSA said providers used AI technology to identify secondary conditions by scanning existing patient records or using ambient scribes, which passively listen to conversations with patients and draft medical notes.

Patient visits where more complex medical care is documented command higher payments by insurers. In hospital settings, secondary or coexisting conditions can be categorized as more complex.

There is testing and then there is testing. How seriously do you view the threat?

https://www.washingtonsun.com/technology/classified-estimates-nsa-paying-billions-to-test-ai-models

Classified Estimates Show the NSA Is Paying Billions to Test AI Models

The National Security Agency told lawmakers that it is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer funds this year evaluating and testing advanced artificial intelligence models, according to two sources familiar with classified intelligence estimates.

The price tag — which is significantly greater than previously known — has led lawmakers to believe that a more comprehensive AI regulatory system could cost the government tens of billions of dollars per year, the sources said.

… Estimates of prior proposals to establish new federal AI regulatory oversight suggested a far lower price tag.

For instance, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the AI Security and Innovation Act, a bipartisan House proposal to establish a center on AI risks and “facilitate the mitigation of those risks,” would cost roughly $20 million per year.

A separate bill in the House to establish a new reporting and tracking system for AI calls for $36 million in total over the next five years, the CBO reported.

Latest AI legal trend.

https://fpf.org/press-releases/new-fpf-report-analyzes-the-rise-in-chatbot-legislation-whats-ahead/

New FPF Report Analyzes the Rise in Chatbot Legislation & What’s Ahead

The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), a global non-profit focused on data protection, AI, and emerging technologies, today released a new report analyzing one of the most active areas of AI policymaking: chatbot regulation. The report, Regulating the Conversation: The U.S. Landscape of AI Chatbot Legislation, provides practical insight into this rapidly-evolving area of technology law and policy, including why chatbot legislation is emerging now; the core components of chatbot laws and the policy tradeoffs they raise; and the key questions likely to shape the next phase of chatbot regulation.

A legitimate target in Ukraine, but these exist worldwide. Would targeting one in the US be tolerated?

https://thenextweb.com/news/starlink-station-fire-poland-sabotage

Starlink ground station near Warsaw hit by fire, Poland suspects sabotage

A fire broke out late on Wednesday at a Starlink ground station south of Warsaw that helps carry internet traffic to Ukraine. Poland’s digital affairs minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, said on Thursday that it looked like sabotage.

Speaking to public broadcaster TVP Info, Gawkowski said the blaze appeared designed to knock the station offline and cut internet access for several bodies, including Ukraine’s armed forces.

You might think a firm that bills $2000 per hour could afford someone to check a few citations…

https://www.bespacific.com/elite-law-firm-sullivan-cromwell-admits-to-ai-hallucinations/

Elite law firm Sullivan & Cromwell admits to AI ‘hallucinations’

FT.com Firm whose partners bill more than $2,000 per hour apologises to judge for software-driven errors in bankruptcy case [no paywall ] – Sullivan & Cromwell told a US federal bankruptcy court that a major filing it made in a high-profile case contained multiple “hallucinations” made by AI software. Andrew Dietderich, the head of S&C’s restructuring practice, apologised in a letter to New York federal judge Martin Glenn on Saturday for mistakes that included misquoting the US bankruptcy code and citing cases incorrectly in a court filing made on April 9. “We deeply regret that this has occurred,” he said in the letter. Dietderich said the firm’s policies on the use of AI had not been followed when the document was prepared, and it was considering whether it needed to make “further enhancements” to its internal training and review processes. The letter did not say which lawyers prepared the documents or whether they were still at the firm. S&C declined to comment. The errors are the latest example of a professional services firm grappling with the use of cutting-edge technology to speed up laborious research and cut down on staffing while also trying to maintain quality standards…

What’s in a name? Rather than “fake” we’ll go with “superior?”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6104142-trump-renames-ai-super-intelligence/

Trump says AI will be renamed ‘super intelligence’ in all US documents

President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that artificial intelligence will be renamed “super intelligence” in all U.S. documents.

“The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globality scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now, hereinafter called super intelligence. Changing the name,” Trump told the global body.

“The use of the word artificial makes intelligence sound fake,” he continued. “It is not fake. It’s actually amazing. But we have to be careful. In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports.”

I wonder how far this will spread?

https://thenextweb.com/news/western-australia-smart-glasses-ban-public-schools-ceo-instruction

Australia’s attorney-general told councils to ban smart glasses

Western Australia will bar smart glasses from every public school from 12 October, under an order covering wearing, charging and storing them. Councils in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne have barred them from pools. Employment lawyers say the workplace is next.

Took them long enough…

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco-trump-truth-social-lawsuit/4146756/

‘Unprecedented corruption': SF sues Trump's Truth Social over paid subscriptions

President Donald Trump's Truth Social is accused of "unprecedented corruption" and insider trading, according to a lawsuit announced Tuesday.

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced the lawsuit against the platform's parent company, Trump Media, for selling subscriptions allowing early access to the president's social posts. Chiu said the paid access violates federal ethics laws and facilitates insider trading.

Where is the notice threshold?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/22/canadas-bc-sues-openai-over-chatgpt-role-in-tumbler-ridge-school-shooting

Canada’s BC sues OpenAI over ChatGPT role in Tumbler Ridge school shooting

The Canadian province of British Columbia has sued the California firm OpenAI for failing to notify law enforcement of threats made on its ChatGPT platform before a shooter opened fire at a school in Tumbler Ridge.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, names OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants.

The British Columbia government is seeking financial compensation from OpenAI to cover past and future costs tied to emergency response and community recovery efforts. The lawsuit also seeks a court order forcing the company to overhaul how it identifies and handles user conversations that threaten violence.

… The shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, a former student at the school, had been flagged by ChatGPT’s safety team after her conversations about gun violence, but the company did not alert police.

Important if not amusing…

https://www.bespacific.com/news-outlets-trump-banned-from-white-house-file-lawsuit/

News outlets Trump banned from White House file lawsuit

Politico: “Three news organizations whose journalists were banned from the White House last week are suing President Donald Trump and three top advisers, calling the abrupt lockout a “direct assault on the First Amendment.” POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW said in a joint statement Monday that they are bringing the federal lawsuit in a bid to immediately restore access for their reporters, who were denied entry to the White House complex on Saturday and had their credentials confiscated by the Secret Service. “This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the news organizations said. “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.” The organizations filed the suit Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, which assigned the case to Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee. The news outlets are asking Kelly to quickly rule Trump’s ban unconstitutional and prevent his aides from enforcing it. Trump appeared to respond to the lawsuit in a social media post attacking the news media outlets…”

The New York Times – Networks Suspend Pool Coverage of Trump After White House Bars CNN. The move was an escalation of President Trump’s showdown with the White House press corps after he moved to bar journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico. The major television networks on Monday suspended their pooled coverage of President Trump, breaking a practice that dates back decades after Mr. Trump refused to allow CNN to serve as a pool representative. The move was an extraordinary escalation amid a showdown between the Trump administration and the White House press corps, which began last week when the president barred journalists at CNN, MS NOW and Politico from entering the White House grounds. Those three outlets sued on Monday to regain access. Despite Mr. Trump’s years of lawsuits and threats against the news media, archrival news organizations have rarely undertaken this kind of collective action. Five networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — have long shared the responsibility of providing television coverage of the president, splitting the financial costs and distributing footage that is carried by news outlets worldwide. The networks perform their duties on a rotation, and CNN had been scheduled to provide coverage for Mr. Trump’s travel on Monday to the United Nations General Assembly. It is extremely unusual for a president to travel or hold public events without being accompanied by representatives from the television pool. The president’s activities on Monday were still covered by print, radio and wire journalists, along with still photographers…”