
Peers urge ministers to reject opt-out AI copyright rules now. A Lords committee says licensed, transparent training data would better support creators, investment, and responsible model development, while warning that weaker copyright protections could stall UK licensing markets and deepen reliance on opaque overseas systems.

UK SMEs are leaning on AI, and disputes are rising. A dispute resolution lawyer says ‘almost right’ outputs and jurisdictional blind spots can harden positions and inflate costs.

Federal judge halts expanded US merger disclosure requirements. A Texas court has blocked a rule that would have significantly broadened the information companies must provide in US merger filings, marking a setback for federal antitrust regulators and creating fresh uncertainty around the future direction of disclosure reform.

Payment Systems Regulator’s abolition expected no sooner than 2027. David Geale of the PSR anticipates the regulator’s consolidation into the FCA will not occur before early 2027, despite government plans for sector reform and deregulation.

Calling someone “old” for IT struggles isn’t age discrimination. The tribunal ruled on Farah Janjua’s case against Harvey Jones Ltd, where a colleague’s comment about her IT skills didn’t meet the legal threshold for age discrimination.

Ofcom contacts xAI over Grok’s image-generation capabilities. The UK regulator is investigating claims that the AI tool can create sexualised images of children and non-consensual explicit images of women, potentially breaching the UK’s Online Safety Act.

Senior lawyer hiring surged in City law firms in 2025. Employment rose above 5% as London firms hired 668 partners, a 21% increase. US firms led the trend, focusing on private capital teams, with high demand expected to continue.

The U.S. consumer watchdog faces paralysis as funding cuts bite. A judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore payments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, halting its attempt to defund the agency as tensions over America’s regulatory future intensify.

John Carreyrou files a federal lawsuit against six AI developers. The complaint alleges the companies used copyrighted books, including his own work, without consent to train their chatbots — opening a new front in the industry’s deepening legal battle over training data.

HMRC is intensifying its scrutiny of fast growing UK companies. Francesca Titus, barrister and white-collar crime partner at McGuireWoods, warns that expanding enforcement powers, AI-led investigations, and new criminal offences are raising the stakes. For scale-ups, proactive compliance is now essential — before HMRC comes knocking.