Microsoft CEO Defends Role In OpenAI's Rehiring Of Altman

By Dorothy Atkins

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified Monday in a California federal jury trial over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, denying that he demanded OpenAI's board reinstate ousted CEO Sam Altman while acknowledging that he offered to pay up to $29 billion to bring Altman and others to Microsoft.

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Meta's Algorithm Needs Revamps, Judge Hears In $3.7B Trial

By Cara Salvatore

A computer science expert testified Monday that Meta should be ordered to revise minor users' content recommendation formula to prioritize safety as much as engagement, as part of the New Mexico attorney general's ongoing bench trial over teen mental health.

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Analysis

Trading Scheme Is A 'Wake-Up Call' For BigLaw Compliance

By Chris Villani

The breadth of a decade-long insider trading scheme prosecutors say was fueled by stolen BigLaw merger information should jolt firms to reexamine their practices to close gaps in internal security, experts told Law360, even if totally eliminating bad actors is nearly impossible.

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ChatGPT Suit Points To Ups And Downs Of Pro Se AI Use

By Cara Bayles

A recent lawsuit against OpenAI highlights many of the hopes and anxieties about pro se litigants using generative artificial intelligence to churn out legal arguments. The technology raises concerns about confidentiality, hallucinations and ethical issues, but some access-to-justice advocates worry the lawsuit may hinder technology that might democratize legal services.

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Fed. Circ. Clears Redesigned Vacuums In Bissell Patent Row

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Monday upheld a decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission barring imports of some Tineco wet-dry vacuums found to infringe Bissell patents, while clearing redesigned products, as arguments by both sides challenging those findings fell flat.

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'I Am The Judge,' Atty Facing Apple Sanctions Bid Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing discovery in a consumer antitrust case against Google LLC rebuked the plaintiffs' attorney Monday as he fought a sanctions motion by former defendant Apple Inc., reminding him "I am the judge in this case" and that his requests must "meet the standard that I set forth."

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Copyright Office Sued Over Rejection Of AI 'Starry Night' Art

By Ivan Moreno

An artist behind a yearslong fight to register his artificial intelligence-generated artwork with the U.S. Copyright Office has sued the agency in California federal court, challenging its refusal to register the image inspired by Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" — the latest action in a closely watched debate over whether copyright protection should extend to works created with AI. 

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Widow Says ChatGPT Helped Shooter Plan Deadly FSU Attack

By Emily Field

The widow and children of one of the people killed in the April shooting at Florida State University hit OpenAI with a suit on Sunday in federal court alleging that its ChatGPT program fed the shooter's delusions and helped him plan the details of his attack on the school's campus.

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FTC Warns Meta, Others To Abide By Anti-Revenge Porn Law

By Allison Grande

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday reminded Meta, Amazon, Apple and a dozen other tech giants of a looming deadline to comply with their obligations under the Take It Down Act to swiftly remove deepfake revenge porn from their platforms, warning that the issue is a "top priority" that the agency is prepared to quickly start enforcing.

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FCC Plans First FM Radio Auction Since Authority Was Renewed

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Monday it will sell off construction permits for 132 FM radio channels, the first auction of its kind in years.

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Television Group Wants Affiliate Ownership Loopholes Closed

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The American Television Alliance asked the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to close loopholes allowing transactions that bring competing network affiliates under common ownership, saying the current rules are being used to evade review.

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Brief

FCC Exempts Aircraft Security Sensor In Restricted Band

By Elaine Briseño

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday granted a waiver to an artificial intelligence surveillance company for the types of signals it can emit, finding it would serve the public by providing critical aviation security.

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3rd Circ. Revives Privacy Claims Over Bass Pro Tracking

By Matthew Santoni

The Third Circuit on Monday partly revived multidistrict litigation over the use of "session replay" software by Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops to allegedly record visitors' activity on their websites, with a three-judge panel finding two of the eight tossed lawsuits had pled harm from the recording of plaintiffs' financial information.

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5th Circ. Wary To Flip IP Suit's 'Case-Terminating Sanctions'

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of a bid to undo "case-terminating sanctions" that a lower court leveled against a servicing company accused of stealing Philips North America LLC's trade secrets, saying Monday that the company admitted to deleting some files to cover its tracks.

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Nats Ask DC Circ. To Toss Fee Class Action To Arbitration

By David Steele

The Washington Nationals are looking to arbitrate a suit filed by a fan accusing them of charging hidden "junk fees" on tickets, asking the D.C. Circuit to overturn a district judge's ruling that kept the case in court.

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Binance Takes Investor Suit Arbitration Bid To 11th Circ.

By Sydney Price

Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao are asking the Eleventh Circuit to review a Florida federal judge's decision denying their bid to compel arbitration of a proposed class action alleging that the crypto trading platform knowingly violated U.S. regulatory requirements.

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Meta Can't Ax Android User Suit Over Browsing-Profile Links

By Lauren Berg

Meta Platforms must face the bulk of a consolidated set of proposed class actions alleging it exploits an Android communications channel to tie users' browsing data to their Facebook and Instagram profiles, a California federal judge ruled Monday, while Google must face a negligence claim.

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Beauty Tech Co. Execs Beat Investor Suit For Good

By Emily Lever

A California federal judge Monday tossed a proposed class action accusing beauty technology firm Cutera and its executives of misleading investors about its acne treatment launch and financial results, finding the legal claims against the company were abandoned and discharged under its Chapter 11 plan.

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Microsoft Settles Supercomputer Patent Case Before Trial

By Adam Lidgett

A German company has agreed to end its patent suit against Microsoft Corp. over artificial intelligence supercomputer technology, about a month before a federal trial was set to start in the infringement case in Texas.

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Perplexity Pushes Bid To Toss Reddit Data-Scraping Claims

By Elliot Weld

Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI Inc. has told a New York federal court that Reddit Inc.'s amended claims that its content was used illegally to train AI models should be dismissed because they still fail to show that Reddit holds copyrights on the "vast majority" of that content.

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ADT Seeks Toss Of Remote Worker's Pregnancy Bias Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A benefits administrator and a security services company asked a Georgia federal judge to toss several claims brought by a remote worker who alleged she was discriminated against, denied benefits she was owed and denied lactation accommodations after returning from maternity leave.

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Zillow Aims To Tear Down CoStar's Property Photo Rights Suit

By Ben Adlin

Zillow urged a Seattle federal judge to throw out a mass copyright lawsuit from rival CoStar over tens of thousands of property photos, arguing that its automated handling of user-uploaded images does not constitute infringement.

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Red Sox Ticket Buyers Fight Arbitration In 'Junk Fees' Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

Fans leading a proposed class action accusing the Boston Red Sox of deceptive ticket pricing have asked a federal judge not to send the dispute to arbitration, saying online buyers are unlikely to have read the terms and conditions before making the purchases they say were inflated with surprise "junk fees."

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Crypto Card Co. Says Counterfeit Scheme Supports RICO

By Zach Dupont

A cryptocurrency trading card company said its claims against a man accused of selling counterfeit versions of its cards were sufficiently pled and aren't frivolous in a response brief filed Friday urging a Colorado federal judge to deny the seller's motion to dismiss.

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Dua Lipa Sues Samsung Over TV Box Images

By Elliot Weld

Pop singer Dua Lipa has hit Samsung with a copyright infringement lawsuit alleging her face appeared on the display of large boxes containing Samsung televisions without her permission.

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Cushman & Wakefield Failed To Protect Clients' Info, Suit Says

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class has accused global commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield Inc. in New York federal court of not doing enough to protect current and former clients' confidential information from hackers, who ultimately breached the company's systems.

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Chinese Co. Challenges DOD's 'Chinese Military' Designation

By Hailey Konnath

A Chinese "internet of things" provider says it's been unlawfully and incorrectly designated as a "Chinese military company" despite having no connection to the Chinese military, according to a suit filed in D.C. federal court Monday.

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Ace Hardware Accused Of Coordinating Prices, Locations

By Matthew Perlman

Consumers have hit Ace Hardware with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court alleging they pay higher prices because the retail cooperative helps its member stores conspire to fix prices and divide local markets.

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Grubhub Drivers Allege Wage Theft, Illegal Face Scans

By MJ Koo

Grubhub has misclassified its delivery drivers as independent contractors and unlawfully collected their biometric data without consent, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois state court.

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T-Mobile Takes Ga. County To Court Over Cell Tower

By Nadia Dreid

T-Mobile has a gap in its coverage southeast of Atlanta, but the Georgia county where it needs to build a tower to cover that gap has refused to grant the company that intends to build it a conditional use permit, according to a federal lawsuit.

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Volvo Says Recalls For Faulty Backup Camera Moot Suit

By Gina Kim

Volvo has urged a New York federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action alleging it sold cars with defective rear cameras that don't operate properly when in reverse, arguing the claims aren't ripe since the plaintiff didn't say he took advantage of remedies offered through the automaker's nationwide voluntary recalls.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a varied mix of settlement approvals, political office disputes, transaction fights, emergency injunction bids and questions over how far the court can go to preserve records for litigation outside Delaware.

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Brief

Fed. Circ. Won't Rehear NASA Contractor Patent Fight

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Circuit declined to reconsider its ruling siding with a district court's decision to grant summary judgment to a NASA contractor over claims the contractor infringed a rotary wing vehicle patent owned by two California brothers.

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AI Chipmaker Cerebras Upsizes IPO Target Range To $4.7B

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Artificial intelligence computing company Cerebras on Monday raised the proposed deal size for its upcoming initial public offering, jumping from a planned roughly $3.4 billion to an approximate $4.7 billion.

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OpenAI Launches New Venture With $4B Initial Investment

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI on Monday announced plans to form a new company meant to increase adoption of its software across enterprises, which will launch with $4 billion of private equity investments, as well as the acquisition of an artificial intelligence consulting firm, Tomoro.

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Cowboy Space Hits $2B Valuation After $275M Funding Round

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Orbital infrastructure company Cowboy Space Corp., led by Fenwick & West LLP, on Monday announced that its valuation soared to $2 billion after it closed its most recent funding round with $275 million in tow.

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Blackstone, Halliburton Plug $1B In Energy Startup VoltaGrid

By Nate Beck

Behind-the-meter power generation company VoltaGrid said Monday that it plans to acquire a supplier and expand its offerings for data centers, microgrids and industrial uses with a $1 billion investment from Blackstone and Haliburton Co., advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Mogan Daniels Slager LLP.

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No Need To Halt Delayed Nexstar Deal, FCC Tells DC Circ.

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission told the D.C. Circuit on Monday there is no reason to block the FCC's staff approval of Nexstar Media Group Inc.'s planned $6.2 billion deal to buy Tegna Inc. since a California federal judge has already halted the broadcast merger during review.

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Texas, LG Ink Deal To End Claims Of TV Data Collection

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Office of the Attorney General and LG Electronics USA Inc. on Monday struck a deal to end the state's claims that LG unlawfully spied on consumers, with LG agreeing to obtain consent for certain data collection through smart television technology.

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FTC Says BOTS Act Case Judge Overlooked Its Dismissal Arg

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Maryland federal judge to rethink his decision refusing to end a constitutional challenge to one of its first online ticketing cases, contending the court never dealt with its primary argument for dismissal.

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Meta Makes Billions Enabling Scammers, Calif. County Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Silicon Valley county sued Meta in California state court Monday, claiming the social media giant "knowingly" facilitates and profits from billions of scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.

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Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

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Quinn Emanuel Founder Exiting Executive Chair Role

By Tracey Read

Four decades after high-stakes litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan first opened in Los Angeles, founding partner John B. Quinn is stepping down as executive chairman of the firm effective immediately.

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NY Ethics Panel Finds US Attorney Committed Misconduct

By Courtney Bublé

The New York Attorney Grievance Committee has found that President Donald Trump's pick leading the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York engaged in "professional misconduct" last summer, according to a letter released on Monday.

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Trump Taps 6 Judges, Including Picks Needing Blue Slips

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced six judicial nominees on Monday, including picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits and two district court picks that needed support from Democrats.

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Plaintiffs' Attys Sanctioned In Tylenol MDL, Sparking Appeal

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York federal court sanctioned a plaintiffs' firm and its co-founder in federal multidistrict litigation by families alleging that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen can cause autism, saying they improperly shared confidential information from the case in related state court actions.

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Senate Confirms 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to confirm 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package.

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Pa. Law Firm, Doctors Can't Shake Uber, FedEx RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A Pennsylvania federal judge said Monday that Uber and FedEx offered extensive and detailed allegations to press ahead with their racketeering lawsuit accusing a Philadelphia personal injury firm and local healthcare providers of scheming to fabricate medical records to inflate accident claims.

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