Global Scans · Legal · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Substantive regulatory change is likely to happen in the next decade as a result of the recent U.S. Presidential election, Brexit and efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change, increase trade and reduce bureaucracy while legislating for new forms of technological advancement such as robots, driverless cars and drones.

• [New] Data privacy risk is reaching critical mass in 2026 as zombie privacy claims, tougher state laws, and everyday AI use converge to create significant liability for companies. Los Angeles Business Journal
• [New] Legal risks intensify with Gartner forecasting that death by AI claims will exceed 2,000 by the end of 2026 stemming from insufficient guardrails in high-stakes decisions. 1BusinessWorld
• [New] By 2028, half of all content risk roles are expected to migrate from legal and cybersecurity into AI engineering, specifically to address governance gaps. KnowledgeCity
• [New] The White House is putting state-level AI regulation under new scrutiny, and Axios reports that Republican lawmakers in several red states now fear their own AI bills could trigger a federal backlash. Tech Startups - Tech News, Tech Trends & Startup Fundin
• [New] In 2026, the risk is not whether to use AI, but how to prevent AI from amplifying operational and legal exposures. Meduzzen
• [New] Budget 2025 proposed legislation and ongoing funding of $216.6 million per year starting in 2029-30 for Employment and Social Development Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to make the National School Food Program permanent. JD Supra
• [New] 30% of enterprises will abandon facial recognition due to deepfake vulnerabilities, while new regulations will mandate clear labeling of AI-generated content. vmblog.com
• [New] As states including Oregon and Washington prepare to imminently enact new chatbot legislation, it remains to be seen how closely 2026 frameworks will ultimately align. Future of Privacy Forum
• [New] Legal experts anticipate a wave of new regulatory actions, including the potential elimination of the self-affirmed GRAS pathway, new restrictions on caffeine labelling, and increased FDA scrutiny of peptides such as BPC-157. / USA Love Life Supplements
• [New] By 2028, 50% of content risk roles will migrate from legal and cybersecurity to AI engineering to address the inherent risk caused by siloed assurance processes. Gartner
• [New] Firms have been warned not to ignore the threat of a knock on the door from the Solicitors Regulation Authority despite the transfer of anti-money laundering regulation. Law Gazette
• [New] The Trump administration issued an executive order in early 2026 aimed at loosening AI oversight, warning that excessive state-level regulation could slow down growth and innovation. OmniMD
• [New] In 2026, legal risk tied to technology and artificial intelligence in the United States is shaped less by a single comprehensive federal statute and more by state legislation, consumer protection enforcement, information security expectations, and contractual obligations. Best Lawyers
• [New] After ignoring warnings from campaign finance reform advocates, Oregon lawmakers approved a variety of changes to a 2024 law that establishes limits on political contributions starting in 2027. State and Federal Communications
• [New] In the past 24 hours, threat intelligence confirmed a major cloud data breach involving a global legal intelligence SaaS provider, severely impacting Australian law firms and federal government agencies. Lean Security
• [New] The EDPB and EDPS have indicated that joint guidelines on the interaction between the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the AI Act are under development and expected later in 2026. Arnold & Porter
• [New] China's new ethnic unity law could give Beijing another legal basis to pursue people it sees as separatists. The Asia Cable
• [New] China's new ethnic unity law could target Taiwanese. The Asia Cable
• [New] Today's interconnected and fastmoving global landscape, shaped by shifting regulations, rising sustainability demands, and rapid digital innovation, creates significant risks for organizations. DWF
• [New] Mandatory compliance: Regulations such as PCI DSS, GDPR, and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA, fully effective 2027) now require security-by-design and the implementation of ZT principles (least privilege, segmentation), raising their status from best practices to legal mandates. Network Intelligence
• [New] Israel's moves could permanently alter the legal and administrative status of territory that is largely under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule, but which would constitute part of a future Palestinian state. Al Jazeera
• [New] UN Women has emphasized that women globally hold only 64% of the legal rights men do, and that at the current pace, it could take two hundred eighty-six years to close legal protection gaps. The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News |

Last updated: 17 March 2026