Learning modules and courses on AI law, AI governance, and related regulation.
The Verge reported that Google has reportedly signed a classified Pentagon agreement allowing its AI models to be used for any lawful government purpose. The report says the arrangement contains limits on domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons without human oversight, while leaving operational control with the government.
The Washington Post reported that more than 600 Google employees have petitioned Sundar Pichai to refuse classified military AI work. The letter raises concerns that secrecy can weaken oversight of surveillance and weapons-related uses.
Regulation
Australian Research Council released an updated policy on the use of generative artificial intelligence in grant assessment. The policy sets expectations for researchers, administering organisations and assessors in National Competitive Grants Program processes.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published a ministerial statement on AI sovereignty, national security and control over AI infrastructure. The speech links AI governance to economic, energy and defence security, including regulatory oversight suited to national conditions.
Cases
UK Supreme Court, in Emotional Perception AI Ltd v Comptroller General of Patents, held that the claimed artificial neural network recommendation system was excluded from patentability as a computer program as such. The judgment is important for AI patentability because it clarifies how the UK applies the computer program exclusion to ANN-based inventions and restores a stricter boundary after the Court of Appeal stage.
Academia
Springer published Massimo Buonomo’s article, ‘Who governs the models? AI, financial power, and the marriage everyone is avoiding’, in AI & Society. The article examines governance gaps around AI models and financial power, adding a current-month academic source to the institutional oversight debate.
Events
Oxford Faculty of Law will host ‘AI Worker-Led Governance and the Social Function of AI’ on 6 May 2026. The event focuses on worker-led governance models and the social role of AI, placing labour participation within AI law and policy debate.
Sources: The Verge, The Washington Post, Australian Research Council, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Springer, Oxford Faculty of Law, UK Supreme Court.