The Boardroom Brief Thursday, November 5, 2026 · Maverick · 3-minute read |
The Byline. |
Courts, cities and regulators are deciding who answers for what AI writes, decides and drives. |
Good morning. Today: who is on the hook when AI reuses an article, runs a city service or drives a car. Quick ask: do your AI tools summarize paid news for staff? Reply yes, no or not sure. I read every reply. |
Today in 30 seconds | ▪ | EU court: an adviser says chatbot answers can infringe news publishers' rights. |
| ▪ | Barcelona: the UN tells cities to keep people accountable for AI decisions. |
| ▪ | Netherlands: regulator caps Tesla's assisted driving at 10% over the limit. |
| ▪ | Malaysia: investigators chase an AI-built election campaign as a bill is drafted. |
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The Move Europe's top court is being told a chatbot answer can infringe when it replaces the article. Ask the general counsel to list every AI tool that answers from outside content and report by November 30 how each cites and pays for its sources. Know whose words your AI is using. |
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01 · Copyright · EU EU court adviser says AI answers can infringe news publishersOn Tuesday, Maciej Szpunar, First Advocate General at the EU Court of Justice, gave his opinion in the court's first generative AI case. Hungarian publisher Like Company sued Google over Gemini answers built from its articles. He said a chatbot can infringe if it got past a paywall, or reuses the wording so closely that readers skip the original. Why it matters: Facts stay free and training is generally allowed, he said, but the provider is liable when reuse is built into its business model. The opinion is not binding. If your AI answers from news, check how it quotes. Source: Court of Justice press release; Kluwer Copyright Blog |
02 · Governance · Spain UN tells cities to keep people accountable for AIOn Wednesday in Barcelona, the International Telecommunication Union and UN-Habitat launched an AI toolbox for city governments. Its four rules: start from the problem, keep public decisions under human control, add safeguards as stakes rise, and accept that not using AI can be right. Why it matters: If you sell AI to city halls, expect buyers to ask who answers for each decision. Put that in the bid. Source: ITU |
03 · Autos · Netherlands Dutch regulator caps Tesla's assisted driving at 10% over limitOn Tuesday, Dutch vehicle authority RDW approved changes to Tesla's driver assistance system, now called Tesla Assisted Driving. The margin above the speed limit drops from 50% to 10% and resets to zero at every start. Why it matters: The driver stays responsible, whatever the software does. If your fleet uses driver assistance, your policies should say the same. Source: RDW; Electrek |
04 · Elections · Malaysia Malaysia probes an AI-built election campaign and drafts an AI billMalaysia's Communications Ministry told Parliament on Tuesday that its regulator is investigating an alleged foreign campaign that used Claude to profile voters in all 222 federal constituencies. An AI Governance Bill on developer accountability is being drafted, with no timeline. Why it matters: Regulators now ask AI makers for evidence after misuse. Keep records of who used your AI and how. Source: Malay Mail |
History rhymes 1918: the US Supreme Court decided who owns the newsDuring World War I, International News Service copied Associated Press stories from bulletin boards and early editions. In December 1918 the Supreme Court said facts cannot be owned, but AP still had a protectable interest in fresh news. Now the copier is a chatbot. |
Put these to management | 1. | Which of our AI tools quote outside articles, and do we know what they quote? |
| 2. | Who is named as accountable for each AI system that shapes a decision? |
| 3. | Could we show a regulator last month's AI usage records within a week? |
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From the archive: The Discount. Britain warned that AI will find every shortcut we took. |
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