USA – MASSACHUSETTS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Paul A. Hughes, Evan S. Kipperman, Daniela Badiola Spanos, Katherine “Katie” Rubino, Tamia Simonis and Mark W. Heaphy, Wiggin and Dana LLP
Wiggin and Dana LLP One Century Tower New Haven USACT 06508-1832 Tel: +1 203 498 4400 Email: dfazzio@wiggin.com Web: www.wiggin.com
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the legal, regulatory and commercial landscape, driving fundamental changes in how organisations develop, deploy and contract for technology-enabled services. State laws in the United States remain fragmented and continue to evolve. At the same time, divergent global approaches are emerging, with the European Union (EU) adopting a comprehensive, risk-based regulatory regime and United States’ federal authorities pursuing a combination of regulatory guidance, judicial action and policy initiatives. This dynamic and multi-layered regulatory environment has created growing complex - ity and uncertainty for companies operating across jurisdictions and industries. Against this backdrop, AI is reshaping traditional legal frameworks, challenging long-standing assumptions, and requiring a reimagination of well-established con - tractual norms. At the same time, the rapid growth of AI-driven businesses – particularly in innovation hubs such as Boston – has fuelled significant venture capi - tal activity, reflecting the increasing strategic impor - tance of AI across every sector of the economy. As AI adoption continues to accelerate, organisations must actively adapt both their legal strategies and com - mercial practices to address emerging risks, allocate responsibility effectively, and maintain a competitive advantage in an increasingly AI-driven world. Regulatory Environment Massachusetts While Massachusetts has not yet enacted any specific statute comprehensively regulating the development or use of AI, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell issued an advisory in April 2024 clarifying that the Commonwealth’s consumer protection, anti-discrim -
ination and data privacy laws apply to AI developers, suppliers and users just as they would in any other context. The advisory identified a non-exhaustive list of practices that may constitute unfair or deceptive acts under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, including: • falsely advertising the quality or usability of AI systems; • supplying AI technology that is defective or impractical for the advertised purpose; • misrepresenting an AI system’s reliability, safety, condition or manner of performance; • offering for sale AI systems that are not fit for the ordinary purpose for which such systems are used; • deploying deepfakes or voice cloning to perpetrate fraud; and • using AI systems that produce discriminatory results in violation of the state’s civil rights laws. It also clarified that Massachusetts’data security and incident response rules generally apply to AI systems that touch personal information, imposing prescrip - tive, technology-neutral security obligations on any person or entity that owns or licenses personal infor - mation about a Commonwealth resident. Similarly, Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of protected character - istics apply to developers, suppliers and users of AI systems, including technologies for hiring, tracking, evaluating or terminating employees. Massachusetts has also adopted certain sector-spe - cific rules related to automated recognition technolo - gies, and the legislature is currently considering new
1134 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook