USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeffrey Harvey, Randall Parks, Andrew Geyer and Cecilia Oh, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
From a legal perspective, these developments pre - sent issues that are unique to the outsourcing market, but not necessarily unique to technology lawyers. As companies increase their presence on – and use of – social media, they open themselves up to potential exposure in a more public and less controlled environ - ment in the following ways. • Managers of social media websites may inadvert - ently post proprietary or confidential information. • Customer complaints are now more public and companies risk a “piling on” of complaints. • Customers may post proprietary, defamatory or harassing information on a company’s social media site. In addition, companies must be aware of the unique terms applicable to each social media plat - form, as the companies’ rights and obligations vary by platform. The use of various forms of AI in the BPO market presents similar issues to those noted in respect of IT outsourcing market developments (see 1.1 IT Out- sourcing ). As firms lean into outbound communica - tions through social media, compliance with applica - ble regulatory regimes (eg, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act) and exposure to a robust plaintiffs’ bar become key issues. Companies with a presence in the metaverse must consider legal implications as though they are operat - ing in the outside world, even if only interacting with avatars and cryptocurrency. 1.3 New Technology The impact of new technology (eg, AI, robotics, block - chain, smart contracts and the metaverse) is most evi - dent in the IT workforce. Low-skilled workers across all industries are being replaced by various forms of technology that are able to perform the same tasks as those workers more cheaply, without sick days, with - out raises and without vacations. Low-skilled workers are feeling the brunt of these new technologies, in addition to more restrictive immigration policies being used to prevent lower-skilled workers from entering the USA. However, higher-skilled workers tasked with the development and management of such technolo - gies (eg, developing platforms for the cryptocurrency market) have greater opportunities.
As various industry leaders contemplate using pro - vider AI offerings to optimise their core competitive advantages, negotiations over IP ownership now involve much higher stakes. Customers are con - cerned that their leadership positions will be eroded if their highest-value IP is shared and then incorporated into AI engines that are resold to their competitors or, worse, commoditised and distributed to thousands of users. Providers worry that the value of their innova - tions will be lost to customer-imposed restrictions or endless, complex IP battles. There does not currently appear to be a “one-size-fits-all” solution to manag - ing AI risk. Instead, most advisers are advising clients to analyse each AI offering on a case-by-case basis and in the unique context in which it will be deployed. Despite our glass-half-full predictions in the previous article, it appears that the metaverse continues to scratch and claw its way along, surviving and adapt - ing to change. The metaverse is no longer viewed as an alternate reality where only gamers and NFT trad - ers choose to live, but rather as a more functional offering for end users to, for instance, practise real- world exercises in an alternate reality. For example, police officers can establish training grounds within the metaverse and conduct search and rescue mis - sions. 1.4 Outsourced Services The most commonly outsourced services in the USA
are: • IT; • HR; • call centre; • procure-to-pay/procurement; • service desk; • accounting; • security; • facilities management; • logistics; • social media design/marketing; and • web design/development.
IT encompasses a broad range of services, including application development/maintenance, data centre outsourcing, and SaaS/cloud/hosting services.
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