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RISK #13
Governance & Power Risks

Regulatory Lag & Capture

Tech moves faster than law. Regulators don't understand systems. De facto governance by engineers and executives.

Severity

HIGH

Likelihood

HIGH

Reversibility

MODERATE

Mitigation

Partial measures

Failure Mode

The people writing the rules don't understand what they're regulating. The people who understand have no incentive to be regulated.

Key Insight

Regulation that can't keep pace is indistinguishable from no regulation.

Linked Discussions

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Linked Incidents
Stable Diffusion's Training Data Contained Copyrighted Images
Oct 2022 · Stability AI
OpenAI Alleged by Lawsuit Violated Users' Privacy Rights by Training AI on Private Info without Informed Consent
Mar 2019 · OpenAI
Meta and OpenAI Accused of Using LibGen’s Pirated Books to Train AI Models
Feb 2023 · OpenAI, Meta
OpenAI Allegedly Did Not Alert RCMP After ChatGPT Flagged Violent Chats Before British Columbia School Shooting
Feb 2026 · OpenAI
Accidental Exposure of 38TB of Data by Microsoft's AI Research Team
Jun 2023 · Microsoft
RealPage Algorithm Allegedly Inflates Rents and Reduces Competition in Housing Market
Sep 2016 · RealPage
The New York Times Reportedly Sues OpenAI and Microsoft Over Alleged Unauthorized AI Training on Its Content
Dec 2023 · OpenAI, Microsoft
Holmen, Wisconsin Man Allegedly Used Stable Diffusion to Create and Then Share Sexually Explicit Images Depicting Minors
Mar 2024 · Steven Anderegg
GitHub Copilot, Copyright Infringement and Open Source Licensing
Jun 2021 · programmers, GitHub
Korean Internet Portal Giant Naver Manipulated Shopping and Video Search Algorithms to Favor In-House Services
Oct 2020 · Naver
Alleged ChatGPT Misuse by Contractor Leads to Reported Data Exposure in New South Wales Resilient Homes Program
Mar 2025 · OpenAI
Reported Disqualification of Two Books from the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Due to Alleged AI-Generated Cover Art
Nov 2025 · Sugarcube Studios
Student Reportedly Files Complaint Over Professor's Undisclosed Use of Generative AI at Northeastern University
May 2025 · Rick Arrowood
Facebook’s and Twitter's Automated Content Moderation Reportedly Failed to Effectively Enforce Violation Rules for Small Language Groups
Feb 2021 · Twitter, Facebook
NPR Host David Greene Alleged Google's NotebookLM Replicated His Voice Without Consent, Prompting Lawsuit
Jan 2026 · Google
ChatGPT Account Compromise Leads to Unintended Data Exposure
Jan 2024 · OpenAI
Purportedly AI-Generated Papers Are Alleged to Have Manipulated Scopus Rankings in Top Philosophy Journals
Jun 2024 · Fake publications, Auricle Global Society of Education and Research, Addleton Academic Publishers
Uber Deployed Secret Program To Deny Local Authorities Rides
Oct 2014 · Uber
AI Firm Lovo Accused of Illegally Replicating Voice Actors' Voices
May 2024 · Lovo
OpenAI's Training Data for LLMs Allegedly Comprised of Copyrighted Books
Jun 2018 · OpenAI