After a decade of cloud migration and incremental modernization, the technology sector is approaching an inflection point. This year, 2026, is shaping up to be the year AI must move from pilots to production. The focus is shifting from more tools and bigger platforms toward autonomy, context, and embedded intelligence across the stack, from software
When Chats Become Evidence: Court Affirms Order Requiring OpenAI to Produce 20 Million De-Identified ChatGPT Logs
By Roma Patel
On January 5, 2026, the federal U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld two discovery orders requiring OpenAI to produce a sample of 20 million de-identified user logs from ChatGPT as part of wide-ranging copyright litigation brought by news organizations and class plaintiffs. This decision offers important insights into how federal…
The California Legislature’s Push for More Privacy and AI Regulations
California’s 2025 legislative session ended with a familiar message to businesses: privacy compliance is expanding in scope, and artificial intelligence (AI) governance is moving quickly from voluntary best practices to enforceable transparency and safety obligations. On the last day of 2025, lawmakers introduced 33 privacy and AI bills and passed 16 for Governor Gavin Newsom…
Enforcement Under California’s Delete Act, Full Steam Ahead
Enforcement of California’s Delete Act is accelerating. The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) recently sent a clear message to data brokers: register, pay the required fee, and be prepared to defend your data practices, especially when they involve sensitive populations.
CPPA announced recent settlements with two data brokers totaling more than $100,000 for failing to…
California Trial Court Decision Provides Long-Awaited Relief from CIPA Claims
A new California trial court decision offers website operators some long-awaited relief in the ongoing wave of website privacy suits under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). In early December, the Los Angeles County Superior Court, rejected an increasingly common theory that routine website analytics and tracking tools function as illegal “pen registers” or “trap…
FBI Warns of North Korean Quishing Campaign
As we have warned before, threat actors using QR codes in attacks against victims continue to rise. To illustrate the risk, on January 8, 2026, the FBI issued a FLASH alert, entitled “North Korean Kimsuky Actors Leverage Malicious QR Codes in Spearphishing Campaigns Targeting U.S. Entities.”
The alert warns that North Korean state-sponsored actors (Kimsuky)…
2026 Labor and Employment Outlook for Manufacturers
This post was co-authored by Labor + Employment Group lawyer Christopher Costain.
As we look ahead to 2026, several significant employment law developments and trends are on the horizon, especially with regard to local and state laws. Below are a few key issues likely to impact manufacturers in 2026:
Regulation of the Use of…
DEA Extends Tele-Prescribing Flexibilities Yet Again – Now Through December 31, 2026 – to Avoid Telemedicine Cliff
By Conor Duffy
On December 31, 2025, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) extended current regulatory flexibilities related to tele-prescribing of controlled substances for another year. The DEA issued a fourth temporary extension (2026 Extension) of its pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities, which are now scheduled to end on December 31, 2026. The DEA explained that another extension…
CA Civil Code § 8850: What Private Multi-state Owners and Developers Building in California in 2026 Need to Know
By Anand Gupta
Owners and developers building in California must be aware of a new statute, CA Civil Code § 8850, which takes effect for contracts entered into, on, and after January 1, 2026. The statute will likely apply to most private construction projects; however, a carve-out exists for residential projects that are not mixed use and are…
South Carolina Lab Settles False Claim Act Case – A Study on Commercial Reasonableness and Disguised Kickbacks
A clinical lab in Anderson, South Carolina, and its founder and CEO have agreed to pay a minimum of $6.8 million to settle a federal qui tam case based on allegations for paying illegal kickbacks to physicians in exchange for referrals of laboratory tests. Under the settlement agreement, this figure may increase to approximately…