AI Update: OpenAI’s Chip Production Plans, How Law Firms Really Use AI, Fake Tom Hanks

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, may turn away from purchasing its artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia in favor of an alternative vendor or even producing its own custom chips, Reuters reports. Google, Amazon, and Meta have all made similar moves in the face of Nvidia’s dominance of the AI chip market — the hardware company currently “controls more than 80% of the global market for the chips best suited to run AI applications,” according to Reuters.

In the second part of an ongoing series covering a recent, closed-door meeting hosted by legal tech firm LexFusion, Legaltech News investigated how generative AI is currently used by legal professionals who have embraced the groundbreaking tech. In-house teams have found that AI has helped them rein in unstructured data and speed up certain processes, and winning the enthusiasm of company leadership remains a key part of successful implementation. Within law firms, the focus has been on incorporating AI into current workflows with an emphasis on risk management. Some attorneys also suggested that generative AI may help make the language of the legal world more accessible to outsiders.

Eleven global law firms — including Norton Rose, Hogan Lovells, and Perkins Coie — have signed up to receive early access to legal industry-specific generative AI training modules from professional development company SkillBurst Interactive, The American Lawyer reports. The modules were developed based on “more than 10,000 survey responses from firm leaders and lawyers on their needs for AI training,” according to the company.

As regulatory procedures for AI continue to move forward in the EU, European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová has urged lawmakers to avoid being overly restrictive when creating legislation to control AI-based technology, according to the Financial Times. “There should not be paranoia in assessing the risks of AI. It always has to be a solid analysis of the possible risks,” Jourová said.

“Beware!!” Tom Hanks warned fans via Instagram after discovering that a company had used an AI-generated version of his likeness to promote, as the actor put it, “some dental plan,” the New York Times reports. CBS Mornings host Gayle King also recently faced a similar instance when her likeness was used to promote a weight loss “secret,” according to the Times.

Ethan Beberness is a Brooklyn-based writer covering legal tech, small law firms, and in-house counsel for Above the Law. His coverage of legal happenings and the legal services industry has appeared in Law360, Bushwick Daily, and elsewhere.