Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-65tv2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-16T01:36:18.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Challenges for Foundation Model Liability and Regulatory Regimes

An Analysis of US Law

from Part II - Evolving Regulatory and Governance Frameworks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2025

Mimi Zou
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Cristina Poncibò
Affiliation:
University of Turin
Martin Ebers
Affiliation:
University of Tartu, Estonia
Ryan Calo
Affiliation:
University of Washington
Get access

Summary

This chapter points out the significant challenges in holding foundation model developers and deployers clearly responsible for the uses and outputs of their creations under US law. Scienter requirements, and difficulties in creating proof, make it challenging to establish liability under many statutes with civil penalties and torts. Constitutional protections for speech may shield model-generated outputs, or the models themselves, from some forms of regulation—though legal scholars are divided over the extent of these protections. And legal challenges to agencies’ authority over AI systems could hamstring regulators’ ability to proactively address foundation models’ risks. All is not lost, though. Each of these doctrines do have potential pathways to liability and recourse. However, in all cases there will likely be protracted battles over liability involving the issues described in this chapter.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×