AI’s next big legal battle is over product liability

A growing number of lawsuits argue that chatbot makers should be held responsible not just for their outputs, but for how their products are designed.

[Photo: Photo by Eagle Vision Agency/AFP via Getty Images]

BY Chris Stokel-Walker

It’s a busy time to be a lawyer for an AI company. British Columbia became the latest government to sue OpenAI last week, alleging the company failed to warn police before February’s mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

The case is about the loss of life at the school, but at its core is an argument plaintiffs are making increasingly often in lawsuits against AI companies. The tools they produce aren’t just services that somebody happened to use. Those bringing cases against AI companies argue that........

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