phd law technology

Law, Science, and Technology Program of Study

With law often playing catch up to ever-changing technology, the study of how law interacts with science and technology is more critical now than ever before. The school’s offerings related to science and technology are grouped into four, often-overlapping clusters: Intellectual Property Law, Health Law, Internet Law, and Technology & Civil Liberties. A student might wish to explore the field broadly by taking courses from a number of these fields. Alternatively, a student might concentrate deeply on a particular area through classes, seminars, clinic, and experiences beyond the classroom.

The Law, Science, and Technology Program of Study seeks to guide students on how to best take advantage of Harvard’s unparalleled resources in this field, and to build a community of students and professors interested in the intersections between law and technology. The Program sponsors substantive talks and study groups, organizes events for faculty and student fellows to answer questions about career options, provides guidance regarding the wealth of opportunities in this space at Harvard, and hosts social events for students and faculty affiliated with the Program.

Academic Offerings

For the latest academic year offerings in Law, Science, and Technology, please visit the HLS Course Catalog .

Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual Property is the body of law that governs rights to ideas and information. Basic courses in the field include Copyright, and Patents. Students interested in litigation in this field should consider taking Copyright and Trademark Litigation, and the Patent Litigation Workshop. Other courses in the field include Trademark and Unfair Competition, Entertainment and Media Law, and Music and Digital Media. Legal practice in these fields increasingly requires knowledge of the laws of other countries and of the network of multilateral treaties that limit each country’s discretion is framing its own laws. To obtain that knowledge, students are strongly encouraged to take International Intellectual Property, as well as courses in International and Comparative Law including Public International Law and International Trade.

Health Law, Biotechnology, and Bioethics

The second cluster consists of courses pertaining to Health Law, Biotechnology, and Bioethics. An introduction to the field is offered in Health Care Law.

Students interested in more advanced work can choose from a variety of upper-level classes including Drug Product Liability Litigation, the Food Law and Policy Seminar, Food and Drug Law, Global Effects of EU Law, the Food Law seminar, the Innovation in Medical Technologies: Law and Policy seminar, and the Public Health Law and Policy seminar. In addition, the year-long Health Law, Policy, Bioethics and Biotechnology Workshop represents an ideal capstone experience for students interested in the field, as it features presentations of major scholars’ works-in-progress in health law and policy, bioethics, and biotechnology. Students are also encouraged to consider the Health Law and Policy Clinic of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and the Food Law Policy Clinic of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (focusing on policy rather than offering direct legal services), each of which allows students to transfer the skills and ideas they learn in the classroom to the real world. Patents is also recommended for students seeking to specialize in biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovation.

Beyond the classroom, students interested in Health Law are also encouraged to attend the various lectures organized by the  Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics . Students with an academic interest in health law should also consider applying to be  student fellows  at the Petrie-Flom Center, which provides law students and graduate students elsewhere in the university intensive mentoring and funding to produce works of scholarship. Finally, students interested in health law should consider the JD/MPH joint degree program with the Harvard School of Public Health.

Internet Law

The third cluster consists of courses examining different aspects of Internet Law. The course offerings in this area include: City Use of Technology, Counseling and Legal Strategy in the Digital Age, Communications and Internet Law and Policy, and Technology and Inequality. Students interested in digital media may also wish to consider offerings such as Digital Storytelling and the Law, Music and Digital Media, and The Two-Way Mirror: Media Imaging in the 21st Century. In addition, clinical placements in the field are available at the  Berkman Center for Internet and Society  through the Cyberlaw Clinic.

The Berkman Center also affords a wide variety of opportunities to participate in research projects pertaining to internet and society as a  research assistant . In addition, Berkman offers  weekly events  which students are encouraged to attend to get to know the community and learn about cutting-edge research in the field.

Technology and Civil Liberties

Changing technologies raise novel questions about how to safeguard civil liberties, particularly privacy and freedom of expression. Courses in this field include Digital Privacy, Comparative Online Privacy, and Frontiers of Cyberlaw: Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Information Security. To gain expertise on technology and civil liberties, student are encouraged to take courses on constitutional law, including First Amendment, Criminal Procedure, and Civil Rights Litigation. Courses in national security law, such as the seminar Privacy, Technology, and National Security, may also be of interest.

Regardless of whether a student concentrates in one of these areas of the law or develops a program by combining course work in the four fields, she should strongly consider wrapping up her sequence of courses with an extended research project of her own, typically culminating with original scholarship. All of the faculty listed above are available to supervise such projects. Students should also consider contacting the Law, Science, and Technology Program of Study student fellows to discuss research topics.

Academic Careers

Students who wish to pursue academic careers in this area should think about combining the course work discussed above with opportunities for significant research and writing.

Fellowships and Research Funding Opportunities

• Fellowship Program at Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
• Fellowship Programs at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School
• Summer Public Interest Funding
• Winter Term International Travel Grants

Research and Learning Outside the Classroom

• Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
• FXB Center for Health & Human Rights at Harvard University
• Harvard Business School Healthcare Initiative
• Harvard Global Health Institute
• The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School

Modal Gallery

Gallery block modal gallery.

Technology and the Law

UCLA Law's courses, faculty and special programs offer opportunities for students to gain a deep understanding of the disruptive impact of technology on law and society.

Artificial intelligence, sophisticated algorithms and other rapid advances in technology are changing how people and institutions engage with each other and raise numerous vexing issues for application of the law. UCLA Law's Institute for Technology, Law & Policy , a collaboration with UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, explores the impact of advances on privacy, justice and the law. The Program on Understanding Law, Science & Evidence (PULSE @ UCLA Law) explores the intersection of new technologies and admissible evidence. The student-run Journal of Law & Technology has published leading scholarship in the field since 1996. 

At the Intersection of Emerging Tech and Public Policy

UCLA’s cutting-edge Institute for Technology, Law and Policy addresses innovations that stand to disrupt steadfast institutions and understandings throughout society.

Institute for Technology, Law & Policy

This institute undertakes research to learn how emerging technologies influence society, privacy, and public policy.

Program on Understanding Law, Science & Evidence (PULSE)

PULSE explores the connections between law and science to better understand how these connections influence policies.

Our Faculty

Lecturer in Law

Mario Biagioli

Distinguished Professor of Law and Communication

Douglas Lichtman

Professor of Law Faculty Director, Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law

Timothy Malloy

Professor of Law Faculty Director, UCLA Sustainable Technology and Policy Program Frank G. Wells Endowed Chair in Environmental Law

Professor of Law Lowell Milken Chair in Law Faculty Co-Director, Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy

Edward A. Parson

Dan and Rae Emmett Professor of Environmental Law Faculty Director, Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

Assistant Professor of Law

John Villasenor

Professor of Electrical Engineering, Law, Public Policy, and Management Faculty Co-Director, UCLA Institute for Technology, Law and Policy

Courses and Clinics

Privacy, data & cyber security law, ip without ip: beyond the borders of intellectual property, capital markets regulation, rights, secrecy, and the limits of public interest litigation, monetary law and institutions.

Ann Carlson talks to the Washington Post about NHTSA's regulation of Tesla

Eugene volokh is cited in the new york times on the use of a.i. in court filings, michael karanicolas is quoted in scientific american on policies promoting social responsibility in the use of a.i..

Hear exclusive application tips from Assistant Dean Jason Fiske before the final application deadline on June 3, 2024

Join us for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a discussion on the current slate of LGBTQ+ legislation.

Ph.D. Program

The ph.d. in law degree.

The Ph.D. in Law degree program is designed to prepare J.D. graduates for careers as legal scholars and teachers through a doctoral program aimed at the production of a substantial body of academic research and writing under the close supervision of a three-member faculty dissertation committee. Unlike programs designed for students who wish to learn about law from the disciplinary perspectives of the social sciences or the humanities, the Ph.D. in Law is directed at students who wish to pursue advanced studies in law from the perspective of the law. This program offers emerging scholars an opportunity to contribute to the development of law as an academic field, and it provides an alternate pathway into law teaching alongside existing routes such as fellowships, advanced degrees in cognate fields, legal practice, and clerkships.

Because our entering Ph.D. students will have already completed their J.D. degrees, the anticipated course of study toward the Ph.D. in Law degree is three academic years and two summers in residence. In their first two semesters, Ph.D. students will enroll in courses designed to help them acquire the background and research skills needed to complete a dissertation in their field of interest and to prepare them for qualifying examinations that test the depth and breadth of the literacies and skills they have acquired. During their second year, students will prepare a dissertation prospectus and begin work on a dissertation. The dissertation may take the form of either three law review articles or a book-length manuscript and will make up a portfolio of writing that will be essential for success in the job market. Ph.D. students will also gain experience in the classroom, and receive the full support of Yale Law School’s Law Teaching Program , which has had remarkable success in placing graduates in tenure-track positions at leading law schools.

Ph.D. students receive a full-tuition waiver, a health award for health insurance coverage, and a stipend to cover their year-round living expenses, as well as support for participation in national and international conferences.

Applications for admission to the Ph.D. in Law program are available starting on August 15. The deadline for submission of all materials is December 15. Applicants to the Ph.D. in Law program must complete a J.D. degree at a U.S. law school before they matriculate and begin the Ph.D. program. Any questions about the program may be directed to Gordon Silverstein, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs, at [email protected] .

Watch Gordon Silverstein, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs, describe the Ph.D. program at Yale Law School.

Section Menu

Student Profile Videos

Adriana Edmeades Jones LLM

A student perspective on getting an LL.M. at Yale Law School and the benefits of faculty interactions.

Fernando Loayza Jordán LLM

A student perspective on the LLM program and studying tax law at Yale Law School.

Rafael Bezerra Nunes LLM

A student perspective on getting an LLM at Yale Law School, constitutional law, and the graduate programs community.

Graduate Student Life

2020 and 2021 Graduate Programs alumni celebrate in the YLS Courtyard with Assistant Dean Gordon Silverstein before their in-person ceremony in May 2022

2022 Graduate Program degree candidates with Dean Heather K. Gerken in April 2022

Yale Law School prepared me for a lifelong career in public interest and social justice work through its academic excellence, hands-on clinical practice, and expansive student-led leadership opportunities.

• School of Law

Ph.D. in Law

The Ph.D. in Law prepares graduates for global leadership in the judiciary, academia, business and government. Since 1966, the program has offered a select number of diverse students the opportunity to attain their highest professional aspirations and career goals. A preeminent center for interdisciplinary legal studies, UW Law offers a global focus and innovative approach to integrating legal scholarship within the humanities and social sciences, medicine and global health, business and technology, and environmental and public policy.

The Ph.D. program is designed to provide a rich and thorough foundation in research methodologies, jurisprudence, legal theory, policy, dissertation preparation and ready access to specialized elective coursework from within the law school and university-wide research centers, institutes and schools. Throughout the program, our graduate students receive individualized attention from exceptional faculty and staff.

With its long and respected history, the Ph.D. program provides students with a global alumni network. Alumni are committed supporters and mentors and lead in many sectors around the world.

The Ph.D. program requires a minimum of three years’ study, at least two years of which are comprised of coursework taken while in residence at the UW. Ph.D. candidates must complete 90 credits. A minimum of 60 credits must be taken at the UW including a minimum of 27 dissertation credits. Some of the credits earned in an LL.M. program may be counted among the 60 credits.

Doctoral dissertation committees are led by faculty experts from UW Law and include members with deep knowledge and expertise from across the university. Students can customize their studies with interdisciplinary coursework, independent study, field research, global internships and externships.

See full curriculum

• Current Ph.D.s in Law
• PhD Admissions

Related Links

Graduate Programs, UW School of Law William H. Gates Hall Box 353020 4293 Memorial Way Seattle, WA 98195-3020, USA gradlaw@ uw .edu

Doctoral Programs

Georgetown Law

Technology law & policy.

Georgetown Law is the nation’s largest law school and its expertise in technology law is unmatched.

More than ever, lawyers and policymakers need a deep understanding of technology and the legal frameworks around it. Law firms are building specialized practices to meet increased legal demands around data security, privacy, artificial intelligence, fintech, and emerging technologies. Elected officials and government agencies require well-grounded counsel to update tech law and regulations. The business and public interest worlds alike demand advocates who can address new legal, ethical and societal challenges as they arise alongside rapid advances in technology.

Note on Admissions and Application for Technology Law & Policy LL.M and the Master of Law and Technology (M.L.T.)

Application materials and answers to tuition related questions can be found by going to the Graduate Admissions page. The M.L.T. application form is the same as the LL.M program and is available here ( application form ).

Technology Law & Policy LL.M.

Georgetown Law launched the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Technology Law & Policy for law school graduates seeking to deepen their expertise at the intersection of policy and technology. The first cohort began classes in Fall 2020.

Master of Law and Technology (M.L.T.)

Georgetown Law launched a new masters degree program for non-lawyers who need to better understand the technology law landscape. The first cohort began classes in Fall 2020.

Groundbreaking research institutions

• The Institute for Technology Law and Policy
• The Center on Privacy & Technology
• The Institute for International Economic Law
• The Center on National Security & the Law

• Jacobs Technion-Cornell Dual MS Degrees – Connective Media Concentration
• Jacobs Technion-Cornell Dual MS Degrees – Health Tech Concentration
• Jacobs Technion-Cornell Dual MS Degrees – Urban Tech Concentration
• Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
• Master of Engineering in Computer Science
• Master of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Operations Research and Information Engineering
• Master of Laws (LLM) in Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship
• Master of Science in Design Technology
• Master of Engineering in Computer Science (Part Time)
• PhD Studies
• Runway Startup Postdocs
• Faculty & Practitioners
• Real-World Access
• Plan your event
• Tour Campus

CONNECT WITH US

2 West Loop Road, New York, NY 10044

• Master's Curricula
• Jacobs Technion-Cornell Dual Master of Science Degrees with a Concentration in Connective Media
• Jacobs Technion-Cornell Dual Master of Science Degrees with a Concentration in Health Tech
• Jacobs Technion-Cornell Dual Master of Science Degrees with a Concentration in Urban Tech
• Master in Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Master in Operations Research and Information Engineering
• Intellectual Property
• Benefits & Perks
• Corporate Support
• Runway Application
• Degree Programs

Program Length

As technology continues to transform our economy and culture, businesses need a new breed of lawyers who understand the legal and commercial aspects of new technology as well as the challenges of bringing new products and new companies to market.

Open to practicing attorneys and recent law graduates from the U.S. and around the world, Cornell Tech’s one-year Master of Laws (LLM) in Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship degree will provide you with the specialized skills you need to support and lead tech companies in the increasingly complex and dynamic digital economy.

Want to learn more?

LLM at Cornell Tech

Learn in teams at the intersection of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Cornell Tech’s Master of Laws in Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship is the first degree of its kind in the world. It is a year-long immersion in innovation, creativity and new business development that will have you learning side-by-side with designers, engineers and business students. Working together in teams, you’ll create new products for existing businesses in the Product Studio and develop your own new business in the Startup Studio or work inside businesses or organizations in PiTech Studio or BigCo Studio . You will dive into studying law and building the transactional skills that emerging technology companies need in practitioner-led courses designed specifically for this program. You will also have ample opportunity to network with the vibrant community of investors, business leaders and entrepreneurial faculty members that only a city like New York and a university like Cornell can provide.

Cornell Tech prepared me to work and communicate smoothly with engineers and business people, which is one of the most important skills a lawyer should adopt when dealing with tech clients.

Bensu Aydin

The cornell tech llm three-semester option for international students.

The two-semester Cornell Tech LLM will not by itself qualify most foreign-trained lawyers to sit for the New York State bar examination.* Students who require additional training to qualify to sit for the New York State bar examination may apply for the Cornell Tech LLM three-semester option.** After completing Fall and Spring terms at Cornell Tech three-semester students will spend an additional Fall term at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. There students will have access to classes which meet the subject matter requirements set forth by the New York Board of Law Examiners.

*Requirements vary according to educational background, and bar examination requirements change often. We cannot counsel individual applicants regarding these requirements prior to their admittance into the program. We recommend students who earned their law degree outside of the US review the New York State rules at https://www.nybarexam.org/foreign/foreignlegaleducation.htm .

**The three-semester option requires an additional tuition payment. For the 2021-22 academic year 2-term tuition is $70,188 and 3-term tuition is $105,300.

Learn, Launch, Lead

Be ahead of the curve, build tech for people, learn & leverage, featured course.

Featured course

High-Growth Corporate Transactions

Featured faculty, matthew d’amore.

Associate Dean and Professor of Practice

Matthew D’Amore is a Professor of Practice at Cornell Tech and in the Law School at Cornell University. He currently serves as an Associate Dean at Cornell Tech and Director of the Law, Technology & Entrepreneurship Program at Cornell Law School & Cornell Tech.

Research focus:  Intellectual property, licensing, and the impact of advancing technology on the practice of law.

James Grimmelmann

Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law

James Grimmelmann is a Professor at Cornell Tech and in the Law School at Cornell University.

Research focus:  How laws regulating software affect freedom, wealth, and power

Google Scholar

Career Outcomes

Cornell Tech offers best-in-class career management services to set you up for success after graduation. Recent LLM graduates work for firms and companies such as Allen & Overy, Buhler Duggal & Henry, ClassPass, Datalogue, and FastCase.

Diversity & Inclusion

Cornell Tech was founded to advance technology as a means to a better quality of life for all communities in New York City, across the nation, and around the world. Our best work results in ethical, inclusive, accessible technology for all users, especially the underserved and underrepresented. Vital to that mission is building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community of students, faculty, and staff. We seek to build things with — not just for — real people and believe in the power of participation and representation.

Real World Outcomes

In Studio, you’ll create real products and technology solutions for organizations like Uber and the Robin Hood Foundation. You’ll also develop your own startup concept, and maybe even take the concept to market.

This program enables young lawyers to hit the ground running and provide value to their employers and to their clients, literally from day one.

Sara R. Werner

Partner, Dentons

Who should apply?

The Master of Laws in Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship is for practicing attorneys or recent law graduates who want to further hone their legal and leadership skills in the heart of New York City’s ever-evolving technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Whether your law degree is from the U.S. or law school outside the U.S., if you have a law degree and are seeking to enhance your technology law knowledge and practice, we welcome your application.

International students: Please note that the Cornell Tech LLM is not STEM-designated.

View application deadlines and requirements.

Tuition & Fees

Learn more about program costs for the current academic year.

Financial Aid

Cornell  University Financial Aid can provide more information about funding options for your program.

On-Campus Housing

Residents of The House at Cornell Tech enjoy high-end amenities and fully furnished apartments with a modern aesthetic. Learn more about living in The House.

Love Where You Live & Learn

Check out the groundbreaking Cornell Tech campus with a virtual or in-person visit.

Related Stories

News category law tech, clara sitanggang: navigating law, tech, and tiktok at cornell tech, news category campus, news category computer science, cornell tech welcomes six new faculty members in 2023-24 academic year, news category cornell university, cornell law to open blassberg-rice center for entrepreneurship law, news category startup studio, cornell tech model and influencer create startup to help others understand and navigate legal contracts, new $100,000 annual grant for llm financial aid announced, news category research, news category news, coding justice—law in the digital age.

King's College London

Law & technology llm pathway.

Our LLM in Law and Technology is an internationally recognised postgraduate law degree which offers students a rare opportunity to systematically acquire academic training in the interdisciplinary area of Law and Technology. The education will focus on cultivating students’ problem-solving skills, critical thinking ability, and the adaptability to the ever-changing economy of 21st century driven by technological innovations. The LLM in Law and Technology will greatly improve students’ employability for tomorrow’s job market in legal, finance, and technology industries.

Key benefits

• Our classes are taught by leading academics specialising in technology laws and regulations of key jurisdictions, such as UK, US, EU and China. This is part of what makes King’s such an exciting atmosphere in which to study.
• The Law and Technology pathway explores the opportunities, legal problems, and risks concerning the most pressing issues in the 21st century, such as e-commerce, intellectual property, cyberspace, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and other financial technologies. It considers the most effective and appropriate regulatory approaches to address such legal challenges, from interdisciplinary, international and transnational perspectives.
• We combine our educational endeavour with research spirit, as the LLM in Law and Technology is supported by the Centre for Technology, Ethics, Law & Society (TELOS), which is a key research centre at The Dickson Poon School of Law, and aims to engage in rigorous, policy-relevant research exploring the legal, ethical and social implications of new and emerging technologies.
• We adopt innovative and research-led teaching pedagogy that focuses on cultivating students’ problem-solving skills, critical thinking ability, and the adaptability to the ever-changing economy of 21st centry driven by technological innovations. It will greatly improve students’ employability and prepare them for the future job market where employees with Law and Technology knowledge and skills will be highly sought-after.

What you will study

Once enrolled on the General LLM at King’s, students can choose modules to follow the Law and Technology pathway and achieve a specialist LLM in Law and Technology. Full-time students who complete the programme in one year will normally take modules totalling 180 credits.  To graduate with a Law & Technology LLM at least 120 credits must be taken within the pathway. This can be optional modules alone or a combination of optional modules and a writing project, providing its content is relevant to the pathway.    The range of Law & Technology LLM optional modules may typically include: 

• Artificial Intelligence, Law and Society (15 credits)
• Competition, Intellectual Property & The Media Industry (15 credits)
• Copyright & The Music Industry in The Digital Era (15 credits)
• Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Technological Advances and Legal Challenges (15 credits)
• Cyberspace Law: ‘Big Data’, Algorithmic Governance and Democracy (15 credits)
• Electronic Commerce Law (15 credits)
• Energy Transitions & Green Tech (15 credits)
• Law & Policy of Financial Technologies (15 credits)
• Legal Technology Innovation (15 credits)
• Technology, Democracy and Society (15 credits)

In addition, all students are required to take one of the following writing projects, detailed further on the General LLM prospectus page: 

• Dissertation (45 credits)
• Dissertation (60 credits)
• 10,000 word practice or research module (45 credits)

To follow the Law & Technology pathway, you must first apply for the General LLM at King's. After enrolment you will select your pathway modules.

Pathway Director

Dr Lerong Lu

Senior Lecturer in Law

Dr Lerong Lu is a lecturer in International Financial Law, and in addition to being the Director of the LLM in Law & Technology, serves as Director for the English law & Hong Kong Law, and English Law & Singapore Law joint-degree programmes. Dr Lu specialises in Banking Law, Financial Regulation, Company Law and Corporate Finance and Comparative Legal Study.

For further questions, please enquire via King's Contact Centre.

Open days and events

Chat with current students and King's staff to find out about the courses we offer, life at King's and ask any questions you may have.

Digital Tech & Urban Public Health: Promises, Challenges & Possibilities

On 13th June 2019 the Social Science and Urban Public Health Institute (SUPHI) at King’s College London hosted a special...

Other Master of Laws LLM Pathways

Accommodation

Discover your accommodation options and explore our residences.

Connect with a King’s Advisor

Want to know more about studying at King's? We're here to help.

Learning in London

King's is right in the heart of the capital.

PhD grad’s work integrates science, technology and society to promote just futures

Editor’s note:  This story is part of a series of profiles of  notable spring 2024 graduates .

Technology is changing the world in many ways and has the power to help overcome our society's greatest challenges. 

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges is the ethical implications of big data — but it's a challenge  Elma Hajríc is willing to face as she works toward implementing technology and social science to solve issues related to critical data studies.

Hajríc, who will graduate from Arizona State University in May with a PhD in human and social dimensions of science and technology, is the spring 2024 Outstanding Graduate from the  School for the Future of Innovation in Society , an academic unit of the College of Global Futures . 

Before pursuing her PhD, she also earned a Master of Science and Technology Policy from the school. She worked alongside her advisor, Katina Michael , a professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, on various projects.

Hajríc’s research involves the governance of emerging technologies centered on the future regulation of nonmedical implantable devices — specifically, radio-frequency identification implants (RFID). 

“I wanted to continue building my understanding of questions related to data and society, and I enjoyed the sense of community so much, so I enrolled in a PhD program at the same school,” she said.

Throughout her master’s program, she researched privacy policy through different lenses and learned about AI, science, and technology through coursework at Sandra O’Connor College of Law . 

She worked as a Science and Technology Assessment and Analytics Fellow for the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C., as part of her internship. There, she got to experience the operations of the supreme audit institution and the rigor of their work. 

“It was a phenomenal opportunity I felt very lucky and grateful to have experienced; everyone was so kind, respectful, and collaborative as all of it was a team effort, and they made me feel like I belonged and had valuable contributions, even as an intern,” Hajríc said. 

“The internship experience in D.C. was a monumental achievement for me personally, as a refugee who had never been there before, and as a first-generation student.” 

During her PhD at ASU, Hajrić also worked as a fellow for the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship program , where she researched socio-environmental practices and policies for citizen-centered smart cities and smart urbanism. She credited her cohort and project coordinator, Ding Ding Zheng , who managed the grant project, for providing support and a sense of community. 

“It was really interesting to exchange perspectives with my engineering and computer science peers, and I have learned a lot and find some of their work really inspiring and groundbreaking in wanting to help people via technology with considerations of social implications as well,” she said.  

Her doctoral dissertation focused on sociotechnical imaginaries of the smart campus at ASU through IoT (Internet of Things) SMART poles. She implemented data studies from an intersectional feminist technoscience lens to research surveillance and the concept of data justice.

“I advocate for rebalancing power asymmetries to create a just and equitable future that is genuinely inclusive of everyone,” she said. 

After graduation, Hajríc hopes to pursue academia further, either as a professor or a postdoctoral scholar, and contribute to research in the field through publications and other collaborations. She is also open to career opportunities in other sectors. 

Below, the recent PhD graduate shared with us about her ASU journey. 

Question: What was your “aha” moment when you realized you wanted to pursue your field of research?

Answer: Prior to attending ASU, I was a volunteer with the Amnesty International Tempe chapter group. In 2014, Amnesty dispatched on-the-ground observers in the U.S. for the first time in response to the Ferguson protests. That was the first time I started seriously questioning surveillance, privacy and technology, as distressing video livestreams of unrest and oppression took over the internet in an unprecedented amount. I started wondering, what if someone doesn’t want to go viral, on the news in the background and all over social media? What if they’re in witness protection? Do we have any opt-out mechanisms as technology and surveillance capacities advance? And that’s when I began delving further into privacy and surveillance considerations from a policy and data governance interest. 

Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU? 

A: The professors I worked closest with as mentors — Katina Michael, Marisa Duarte and Nicholas Proferes , associate professor of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences — are wonderfully genuine, kind and compassionate people, as well as brilliant researchers and professors. They collectively taught me the possibility and importance of cultivating academic spaces based on the values of compassion and collaboration. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with them in my PhD journey and can only hope to be as good of an academic as they are and pay it forward with how supportive and knowledgeable they’ve been. I’ve learned so much about my research topics as well, and they inspire me to be the kind of academic they are.

Q: With expertise in topics of artificial intelligence, sustainability, technology and smart urbanism, could you explain the implications of AI for smart cities?

A: Artificial Intelligence has become a hot topic recently, but it’s not a new concept. AI development has been in the works since the 1950s. Despite all of the hype, AI has limitations, including material sourcing and human labor required to maintain these infrastructures that pose challenges to sustainability goals.

There is no singular way AI is integrated into smart cities, but it becomes part of the fabric as data is networked and exchanged through personal devices, vehicles, and other transportation and city infrastructures that use AI-enabled software for things like parking, traffic monitoring and surveillance.

Q: Following up on that, what are some opportunities and challenges posed? How can we better prepare for that future? 

A: In the smart city context, the biggest threats I see with AI applications pertain to issues of surveillance, with facial recognition being the most notable example. AI often comes with problems of gendered and racialized bias embedded in algorithms, among other classification issues. Smart technologies, sometimes aided with AI and ubiquitous surveillance capacities, tend to harm historically marginalized groups disproportionately.

While AI implementations are said to serve complex social problems like sustainability and help community health and safety, the use cases can quickly become about control, power, and oppression if not carefully guided. Smart technologies have promising benefits in assisting sustainability goals and deployments in health care, but deliberate implementations and guardrails are required to preserve democratic values and human rights. 

Q: What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you or changed your perspective?

A: I had actively avoided ChatGPT prior to being a TA for the prompting course, and I was at first surprised by its features in the paid version. It can be helpful for minor uses and basic questions if you don’t want to bother someone else with them in academia. I still sometimes refer to it, which surprises me, but it quickly hits a wall regarding its limitations. It started making things up by referring to articles and organizations that don’t exist and getting very simple things wrong, like dates of the year. ChatGPT still has a really long way to go to live up to the current hype around it and deep sociotechnical problems to address.


Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?

A: Stay rooted in preserving humanity, empathy and compassion, and be committed to practicing community care and genuine inclusivity in all you do. Be kind whenever possible; you never know what stressors people are already dealing with and going through, and even your smallest acts of compassion matter. Make space for and care about others. There is room for all of us to succeed — share the spotlight and empower others and be community oriented; we really need more community-building efforts. 

More Sun Devil community

Inaugural cohort from Ukraine graduates with dual degrees during wartime

The American University Kyiv opened its doors in February 2022, just three weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Despite the tremendous challenges that followed, the school and its students…

ASU grad with cerebral palsy tells her story through artwork

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2024 graduates. Liliana Flores is a senior majoring in painting and drawing at The School of Art in the Herberger…

ASU grad and student life photographer breaks ground as first-generation student

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2024 graduates. When Yenifer Macias Lopez became the first in her family to attend university, she was unsure of what she…

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Social justice
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Four from MIT named 2024 Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Press contact :.

Previous image Next image

MIT senior Owen Dugan, graduate student Vittorio Colicci ’22, predoctoral research fellow Carine You ’22, and recent alumna Carina Letong Hong ’22 are recipients of this year’s Knight-Hennessy Scholarships. The competitive fellowship, now in its seventh year, funds up to three years of graduate studies in any field at Stanford University. To date, 22 MIT students and alumni have been awarded Knight-Hennessy Scholarships.

“We are excited for these students to continue their education at Stanford with the generous support of the Knight Hennessy Scholarship,” says Kim Benard, associate dean of distinguished fellowships in Career Advising and Professional Development. “They have all demonstrated extraordinary dedication, intellect, and leadership, and this opportunity will allow them to further hone their skills to make real-world change.”

Vittorio Colicci ’22

Vittorio Colicci, from Trumbull, Connecticut, graduated from MIT in May 2022 with a BS in aerospace engineering and physics. He will receive his master’s degree in planetary sciences this spring. At Stanford, Colicci will pursue a PhD in earth and planetary sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. He hopes to investigate how surface processes on Earth and Mars have evolved through time alongside changes in habitability. Colicci has worked largely on spacecraft engineering projects, developing a monodisperse silica ceramic for electrospray thrusters and fabricating high-energy diffraction gratings for space telescopes. As a Presidential Graduate Fellow at MIT, he examined the influence of root geometry on soil cohesion for early terrestrial plants using 3D-printed reconstructions. Outside of research, Colicci served as co-director of TEDxMIT and propulsion lead for the MIT Rocket Team. He is also passionate about STEM engagement and outreach, having taught educational workshops in Zambia and India.

Owen Dugan, from Sleepy Hollow, New York, is a senior majoring in physics. As a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, he will pursue a PhD in computer science at the Stanford School of Engineering. Dugan aspires to combine artificial intelligence and physics, developing AI that enables breakthroughs in physics and using physics techniques to design more capable and safe AI systems. He has collaborated with researchers from Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and DeepMind, and has presented his first-author research at venues including the International Conference on Machine Learning, the MIT Mechanistic Interpretability Conference, and the American Physical Society March Meeting. Among other awards, Dugan is a Hertz Finalist, a U.S. Presidential Scholar, an MIT Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awardee, a Research Science Institute Scholar, and a Neo Scholar. He is also a co-founder of VeriLens, a funded startup enabling trust on the internet by cryptographically verifying digital media.

Carina Letong Hong ’22

Carina Letong Hong, from Canton, China, is currently pursuing a JD/PhD in mathematics at Stanford. A first-generation college student, Hong graduated from MIT in May 2022 with a double major in mathematics and physics and was inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society. She then earned a neuroscience master’s degree with dissertation distinctions from the University of Oxford, where she conducted artificial intelligence and machine learning research at Sainsbury Wellcome Center’s Gatsby Unit. At Stanford Law School, Hong provides legal aid to low-income workers and uses economic analysis to push for law enforcement reform. She has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals, served as an expert referee for journals and conferences, and spoken at summits in the United States, Germany, France, the U.K., and China. She was the recipient of the AMS-MAA-SIAM Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research, the highest honor for an undergraduate in mathematics in North America; the AWM Alice T. Schafer Prize for Mathematical Excellence, given annually to an undergraduate woman in the United States; the Maryam Mirzakhani Fellowship; and a Rhodes Scholarship.

Carine You ’22

Carine You, from San Diego, California, graduated from MIT in May 2022 with bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science and in mathematics. Since graduating, You has worked as a predoctoral research assistant with Professor Amy Finkelstein in the MIT Department of Economics, where she has studied the quality of Medicare nursing home care and the targeting of medical screening technologies. This fall, You will embark on a PhD in economic analysis and policy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She wishes to address pressing issues in environmental and health-care markets, with a particular focus on economic efficiency and equity. You previously developed audio signal processing algorithms at Bose, refined mechanistic models to inform respiratory monitoring at the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics, and analyzed corruption in developmental projects in India at the World Bank. Through Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, she taught computer science to Israeli and Palestinian students in Jerusalem and spearheaded an online pilot expansion for the organization. At MIT, she was named a Burchard Scholar.

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Related Topics

• Awards, honors and fellowships
• Undergraduate
• Graduate, postdoctoral
• Aeronautical and astronautical engineering
• Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs)
• Mathematics
• Research Laboratory of Electronics
• School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences

Related Articles

Three from MIT named 2023 Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Six from MIT Named 2022 Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Carina Letong Hong named a 2022 Rhodes Scholar for China

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

The MIT Bike Lab: A place for community, hands-on learning

Read full story →

Repurposed beer yeast may offer a cost-effective way to remove lead from water

Newly discovered Earth-sized planet may lack an atmosphere

Robotic “SuperLimbs” could help moonwalkers recover from falls

3 Questions: Technology roadmapping in teaching and industry

Five MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2024

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

15 Fortune 500 CEOs Who Earned a Law Degree

These chief executive officers bring legal credentials to the C-suite.

Getty Images | iStockphoto

A legal background in the business world.

It's common for leaders of large corporations to have a master's in business administration degree. An MBA can be a major asset for those with CEO or C-suite ambitions. But a small contingent of top business executives have a law degree on their resume. Here are 15 Fortune 500 CEOs who are law school graduates.

Cindy Ord | Getty Images for American Institute for Stuttering

Priscilla Almodovar, CEO of Fannie Mae

Law school: Columbia University Law School in New York

U.S. News law school rank: 8

Median LSAT score: 173

Acceptance rate: 12.2%

Almodovar was named CEO of mortgage financing company Fannie Mae in 2022. She was previously president and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners. Before earning her law degree at Columbia, she got her bachelor's from Hofstra University in New York.

Michael Swensen | Getty Images

Robert M. Blue, chair, president and CEO of Dominion Energy

Law school: Yale University Law School in Connecticut

U.S. News law school rank: 1 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 175

Acceptance rate: 5.6%

Blue was named president and CEO of Virginia-based Dominion Energy in October 2020 and chair of the board of directors in April 2021. Before joining the company, he served as counselor to the governor and director of policy for Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, and worked as an attorney. He earned his law degree in 1994.

Bennett Raglin | Getty Images for The New York Times

Calvin Butler, president and CEO of Exelon Corporation

Law school: Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

U.S. News law school rank: 16 (tie)

Acceptance rate: 17.2%

According to the company's website, Exelon "is the nation’s largest utility company by customer count, serving 10.5 million electric and gas customers." Butler held senior leadership roles in the print, digital and supply chain solutions industry before joining Exelon, where he was named CEO in 2022.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle

Law school: Carey Law School at the University of Pennsylvania

U.S. News law school rank: 4 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 172

Acceptance rate: 9.9%

Catz joined software giant Oracle in 1999 and was named CEO in 2014. Catz, who is also a director of The Walt Disney Company, immigrated to the U.S. from Israel at six years old. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1983 and a law degree in 1986.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Robert M. Davis, president and CEO of Merck

Law school: Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University in Illinois

U.S. News law school rank: 9 (tie)

Acceptance rate: 15.5%

Davis was named president of pharmaceutical company Merck in April 2021, then was named CEO three months later. In addition to his law degree, Davis has an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor's from Miami University—Oxford in Ohio.

(Getty Images) |

Kenneth David DeGiorgio, CEO of First American Financial

Law school: University of California—Los Angeles School of Law

U.S. News law school rank: 13

Median LSAT score: 170

Acceptance rate: 16.8%

DeGiorgio was named CEO of First American Financial in February 2022 after serving as president from 2021 to 2022. In addition to his law degree, he has a graduate degree from Harvard University in Massachusetts and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management .

(Wavebreakmedia | Getty Images)

Nicholas Fink, CEO of Fortune Brands Innovations

Law school: Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University

Fink joined Fortune Brands Innovations, which manufactures brands like Master Lock and SentrySafe, in 2015. He was named CEO in January 2020 after serving as president and COO. Before earning his law degree, Fink earned his bachelor's at the Institut d’Etudes des Relations Internationales in France .

Jemal Countess | Getty Images for TIME

Glenn D. Fogel, president and CEO of Booking Holdings Inc.

Law school: Harvard University Law School

Median LSAT score: 174

Acceptance rate: 9.6%

Fogel was named president and CEO of Connecticut-based Booking Holdings Inc. in January 2017 and CEO of its subsidiary, Booking.com, in June 2019. Before earning his law degree, he earned a bachelor's from the Wharton School.

Raymond Boyd | Getty Images

Chris Leahy, chair and CEO of CDW

Law school: Boston College Law School in Massachusetts

U.S. News law school rank: 28 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 167

Acceptance rate: 13.4%

CDW provides information technology solutions for businesses, governments, educational institutions and health care systems in the U.S. and abroad. Leahy was named CEO in 2019 after serving as chief revenue officer. Before earning her law degree, she graduated with a bachelor's from Brown University in Rhode Island.

Brandon Sloter | Getty Images

Jeffrey W. Martin, CEO of Sempra

Law school: The University of Miami School of Law in Florida

U.S. News law school rank: 82 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 162

Acceptance rate: 32.9%

Martin was appointed CEO of California-based energy infrastructure company Sempra in May 2018. In addition to his law degree, he has a bachelor's degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York and a master's in public administration from the University of Texas at El Paso .

John Lamparski | Getty Images

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America Corporation

Law school: University of Notre Dame Law School in Indiana

U.S. News law school rank: 20 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 169

Acceptance rate: 24.4%

Moynihan joined Bank of America Corporation in 2004 after the company merged with FleetBoston Financial. He was appointed CEO in January 2010 after leading each company's operating units. Before his law degree, he earned a bachelor's from Brown.

Teresa J. Rasmussen, president and CEO of Thrivent

Law school: University of North Dakota School of Law

U.S. News law school rank: 168 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 150

Acceptance rate: 62%

Financial services company Thrivent tapped Rasmussen as its CEO in 2018. Her previous roles include serving as president of the company's core life, health and annuities business as well as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Rasmussen also earned a bachelor’s in accounting from Minnesota State University—Moorhead .

Rich Graessle | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Alan D. Schnitzer, chairman and CEO of Travelers

Law school: Columbia University Law School

Schnitzer was named CEO of personal, business and specialty insurance company Travelers in December 2015 after joining the company in 2007 as vice chairman and chief legal officer. He graduated with a bachelor's in finance and accounting from the Wharton School.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Michael Tipsord, chairman and CEO of State Farm Insurance

Law school where he earned his degree: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Law

U.S. News law school rank: 36 (tie)

Median LSAT score: 165

Acceptance rate: 43.7%

Tipsord began his career with State Farm in 1988 and was named chief financial officer in 2004. He became COO in 2011 and CEO in 2015. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Illinois Wesleyan University .

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery

Law school: Boston University School of Law in Massachusetts

U.S. News law school rank: 24

Acceptance rate: 17.8%

WarnerMedia and Discovery merged in 2022 to become Warner Bros. Discovery, one of the country's largest media and entertainment companies. Zaslav had served as CEO of Discovery since 2006. Previously a practicing attorney, he graduated from law school with honors.

Get guidance on choosing a law school.

Learn more about applying to law school and get our complete rankings of the Best Law Schools . For more advice and information on choosing a law school, follow U.S. News Education on X/Twitter and Facebook .

Getty Images |

Fortune 500 CEOs Who Earned a Law Degree

• Priscilla Almodovar, Fannie Mae
• Robert M. Blue, Dominion Energy
• Calvin Butler, Exelon Corporation
• Safra Catz, Oracle
• Robert M. Davis, Merck
• Kenneth David DeGiorgio, First American Financial
• Nicholas Fink, Fortune Brands Innovations
• Glenn D. Fogel, Booking Holdings Inc.
• Chris Leahy, CDW
• Jeffrey W. Martin, Sempra
• Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Corporation
• Teresa Rasmussen, Thrivent
• Alan D. Schnitzer, Travelers
• Michael Tipsord, State Farm Insurance
• David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery

More From U.S. News

B-Schools That Taught Fortune 500 CEOs

Where Astronauts Went to College

15 Law Schools Generous With Grants

You may also like, premeds and emerging medical research.

Zach Grimmett May 14, 2024

How to Get a Perfect Score on the LSAT

Gabriel Kuris May 13, 2024

Premeds Take 5 Public Health Courses

Rachel Rizal May 7, 2024

Why It's Hard to Get Into Med School

A.R. Cabral May 6, 2024

Pros, Cons of Unaccredited Law Schools

Gabriel Kuris May 6, 2024

An MBA and Management Consulting

Sammy Allen May 2, 2024

Med School Access for Minority Students

Cole Claybourn May 2, 2024

Different jobs with med degree

Jarek Rutz April 30, 2024

Completing Medical School in Five Years

Kate Rix April 30, 2024

Dealing With Medical School Rejection

Kathleen Franco, M.D., M.S. April 30, 2024

Artificial Intelligence and the Law

Legal scholars on the potential for innovation and upheaval.

• December 5, 2023
• Tomas Weber
• Illustrations by Joan Wong | Photography by Timothy Archibald
• Fall 2023 – Issue 109
• Cover Story
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Share by Email

Earlier this year, in Belgium, a young father of two ended his life after a conversation with an AI-powered chatbot. He had, apparently, been talking to the large language model regularly and had become emotionally dependent on it. When the system encouraged him to commit suicide, he did. “Without these conversations with the chatbot,” his widow told a Brussels newspaper, “my husband would still be here.”

A devastating tragedy, but one that experts predict could become a lot more common.

As the use of generative AI expands, so does the capacity of large language models to cause serious harm. Mark Lemley (BA ’88), the William H. Neukom Professor of Law, worries about a future in which AI provides advice on committing acts of terrorism, recipes for poisons or explosives, or disinformation that can ruin reputations or incite violence.

The question is who, if anybody, will be held accountable for these harms?

“We don’t have case law yet,” Lemley says. “The company that runs the AI is not doing anything deliberate. They don’t necessarily know what the AI is going to say in response to any given prompt.” So, who’s liable? “The correct answer, right now, might be nobody. And that’s something we will probably want to change.”

Generative AI is developing at a stunning speed, creating new and thorny problems in well-established legal areas, disrupting long-standing regimes of civil liability—and outpacing the necessary frameworks, both legal and regulatory, that can ensure the risks are anticipated and accounted for.

To keep up with the flood of new,  large language models like ChatGPT, judges and lawmakers will need to grapple, for the first time, with a host of complex questions. For starters, how should the law govern harmful speech that is not created by human beings with rights under the First Amendment? How must criminal statutes and prosecutions change to address the role of bots in the commission of crimes? As growing numbers of people seek legal advice from chatbots, what does that mean for the regulation of legal services? With large language models capable of authoring novels and AI video generators churning out movies, how can existing copyright law be made current?

Hanging over this urgent list of questions is yet another: Are politicians, administrators, judges, and lawyers ready for the upheaval AI has triggered?

ARTIFICIAL AGENTS, CRIMINAL INTENT

Did ChatGPT defame Professor Lemley?

In 2023, when Lemley asked the chatbot GPT-4 to provide information about himself, it said he had been accused of a crime: namely, the misappropriation of trade secrets. Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology , Lemley had done no such thing. His area of research, it seems, had caused the chatbot to hallucinate criminal offenses.

More recently, while researching a paper on AI and liability, Lemley and his team asked Google for information on how to prevent seizures. The search engine responded with a link titled “Had a seizure, now what?” and Lemley clicked. Among the answers: “put something in someone’s mouth” and “hold the person down.” Something was very wrong. Google’s algorithm, it turned out, had sourced content from a webpage explaining precisely what not to do. The error could have caused serious injury. (This advice is no longer included in search results.)

Lemley says it is not clear AI companies will be held liable for errors like these. The law, he says, needs to evolve to plug the gaps. But Lemley is also concerned about an even broader problem: how to deal with AI models that cause harm but that have impenetrable technical details locked inside a black box.

Take defamation. Establishing liability, Lemley explains, requires a plaintiff to prove mens rea: an intent to deceive. When the author of an allegedly defamatory statement is a chatbot, though, the question of intent becomes murky and will likely turn on the model’s technical details: how exactly it was trained and optimized.

To guard against possible exposure, Lemley fears, developers will make their models less transparent. Turning an AI into a black box, after all, makes it harder for plaintiffs to argue that it had the requisite “intent.” At the same time, it makes models more difficult to regulate.

How, then, should we change the law? What’s needed, says Lemley, is a legal framework that incentivizes developers to focus less on avoiding liability and more on encouraging companies to create systems that reflect our preferences. We’d like systems to be open and comprehensible, he says. We’d prefer AIs that do not lie and do not cause harm. But that doesn’t mean they should only say nice things about people simply to avoid liability. We expect them to be genuinely informative.

In light of these competing interests, judges and policymakers should take a fine-grained approach to AI cases, asking what, exactly, we should be seeking to incentivize. As a starting point, suggests Lemley, we should dump the mens rea requirement in AI defamation cases now that we’ve entered an era when dangerous content can so easily be generated by machines that lack intent.

Lemley’s point extends to AI speech that contributes to criminal conduct. Imagine, he says, a chatbot generating a list of instructions for becoming a hit man or making a deadly toxin. There is precedent for finding human beings liable for these things. But when it comes to AI, once again accountability is made difficult by the machine’s lack of intent.

“We want AI to avoid persuading people to hurt themselves, facilitating crimes, and telling falsehoods about people,” Lemley writes in “Where’s the Liability in Harmful AI Speech?” So instead of liability resting on intent, which AIs lack, Lemley suggests an AI company should be held liable for harms in cases where it was designed without taking standard actions to mitigate risk.

“It is deploying AI to help prosecutors make decisions that are not conditioned on race. Because that’s what the law requires.”

Julian Nyarko, associate professor of law, on the algorithm he developed

At the same time, Lemley worries that holding AI companies liable when ordinary humans wouldn’t be, may inappropriately discourage development of the technology. He and his co-authors argue that we need a set of best practices for safe AI. Companies that follow the best practices would be immune from suit for harms that result from their technology while companies that ignore best practices would be held responsible when their AIs are found to have contributed to a resulting harm.

HELPING TO CLOSE THE ACCESS TO JUSTICE GAP 

As AI threatens to disrupt criminal law, lawyers themselves are facing major disruptions. The technology has empowered individuals who cannot find or pay an attorney to turn to AI-powered legal help. In a civil justice system awash in unmet legal need, that could be a game changer.

“It’s hard to believe,” says David Freeman Engstrom , JD ’02, Stanford’s LSVF Professor in Law and co-director of the Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession , “but the majority of civil cases in the American legal system—that’s millions of cases each year—are debt collections, evictions, or family law matters.” Most pit a represented institutional plaintiff (a bank, landlord, or government agency) against an unrepresented individual. AI-powered legal help could profoundly shift the legal services marketplace while opening courthouse doors wider for all.

“Up until now,” says Engstrom, “my view was that AI wasn’t powerful enough to move the dial on access to justice.” That view was front and center in a book Engstrom published earlier this year, Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice . Then ChatGPT roared onto the scene—a “lightning-bolt moment,” as he puts it. The technology has advanced so fast that Engstrom now sees rich potential for large language models to translate back and forth between plain language and legalese, parsing an individual’s description of a problem and responding with clear legal options and actions.

“We need to make more room for new tools to serve people who currently don’t have lawyers,” says Engstrom, whose Rhode Center has worked with multiple state supreme courts on how to responsibly relax their unauthorized practice of law and related rules. As part of that work, a groundbreaking Rhode Center study offered the first rigorous evidence on legal innovation in Utah and Arizona, the first two states to implement significant reforms.

But there are signs of trouble on the horizon. This summer, a New York judge sanctioned an attorney for filing a motion that cited phantom precedents. The lawyer, it turns out, relied on ChatGPT for legal research, never imagining the chatbot might hallucinate fake law.

How worried should we be about AI-powered legal tech leading lay people—or even attorneys—astray? Margaret Hagan , JD ’13, lecturer in law, is trying to walk a fine line between techno-optimism and pessimism.

“I can see the point of view of both camps,” says Hagan, who is also the executive director of the Legal Design Lab , which is researching how AI can increase access to justice, as well as designing and evaluating new tools. “The lab tries to steer between those two viewpoints and not be guided by either optimistic anecdotes or scary stories.”

To that end, Hagan is studying how individuals are using AI tools to solve legal problems. Beginning in June, she gave volunteers fictional legal scenarios, such as receiving an eviction notice, and watched as they consulted Google Bard. “People were asking, ‘Do I have any rights if my landlord sends me a notice?’ and ‘Can I really be evicted if I pay my rent on time?’” says Hagan.

Bard “provided them with very clear and seemingly authoritative information,” she says, including correct statutes and ordinances. It also offered up imaginary case law and phone numbers of nonexistent legal aid groups.

In her policy lab class, AI for Legal Help , which began last autumn, Hagan’s students are continuing that work by interviewing members of the public about how they might use AI to help them with legal problems. As a future lawyer, Jessica Shin, JD ’25, a participant in Hagan’s class, is concerned about vulnerable people placing too much faith in these tools.

“I’m worried that if a chatbot isn’t dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, key things can and will be missed—like  statute of limitation deadlines or other procedural steps that will make or break their cases,” she says.

“Government cannot govern AI, if government doesn’t understand AI.”

Daniel Ho, William Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law

Given all this promise and peril, courts need guidance, and SLS is providing it. Engstrom was just tapped by the American Law Institute to lead a multiyear project to advise courts on “high-volume” dockets, including debt, eviction, and family cases. Technology will be a pivotal part, as will examining how courts can leverage AI. Two years ago, Engstrom and Hagan teamed up with Mark Chandler, JD ’81, former Cisco chief legal officer now at the Rhode Center, to launch the Filing Fairness Project . They’ve partnered with courts in seven states, from Alaska to Texas, to make it easier for tech providers to serve litigants using AI-based tools. Their latest collaboration will work with the Los Angeles Superior Court, the nation’s largest, to design new digital pathways that better serve court users.

CAN MACHINES PROMOTE COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW?

The hope that AI can be harnessed to help foster fairness and efficiency extends to the work of government too. Take criminal justice. It’s supposed to be blind, but the system all too often can be discriminatory—especially when it comes to race. When deciding whether to charge or dismiss a case, a prosecutor is prohibited by the Constitution from taking a suspect’s race into account. There is real concern, though, that these decisions might be shaped by racial bias—whether implicit or explicit.

Enter AI. Julian Nyarko , associate professor of law, has developed an algorithm to mask race-related information from felony reports. He then implemented the algorithm in a district attorney’s office, erasing racially identifying details before the reports reached the prosecutor’s desk. Nyarko believes his algorithm will help ensure lawful prosecutorial decisions.

“The work uses AI tools to increase compliance with the law,” he says. “It is deploying AI to help prosecutors make decisions that are not conditioned on race. Because that’s what the law requires.”

GOVERNING AI

While the legal profession evaluates how it might integrate this new technology, the government has been catching up on how to grapple with the AI revolution. According to Daniel Ho , the William Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, one of the core challenges for the public sector is a dearth of expertise.

Very few specialists in AI choose to work in the public sector. According to a recent survey, less than 1 percent of recent AI PhD graduates took positions in government—compared with some 60 percent who chose industry jobs. A lack of the right people, and an ailing government digital infrastructure, means the public sector is missing the expertise to craft law and policy and effectively use these tools to improve governance. “Government cannot govern AI,” says Ho, “if government doesn’t understand AI.”

Ho, who also advises the White House as an appointed member of the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC), is concerned policymakers and administrators lack sufficient knowledge to separate speculative from concrete risks posed by the technology.

Evelyn Douek , a Stanford Law assistant professor, agrees. There is a lack of available information about how commonly used AI tools work—information the government could use to guide its regulatory approach, she says. The outcome? An epidemic of what Douek calls “magical thinking” on the part of the public sector about what is possible.

The information gap between the public and private sectors motivated a large research team from Stanford Law School’s Regulation, Evaluation, and Governance Lab (RegLab) to assess the feasibility of recent proposals for AI regulation. The team, which included Tino Cuéllar (MA ’96, PhD ’00), former SLS professor and president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Colleen Honigsberg , professor of law; and Ho, concluded that one important step is for the government to collect and investigate events in which AI systems seriously malfunction or cause harm, such as with bioweapons risk.

“If you look at other complex products, like cars and pharmaceuticals, the government has a database of information that details the factors that led to accidents and harms,” says Neel Guha, JD/PhD ’24 (BA ’18), a PhD student in computer science and co-author of a forthcoming paper that explores this topic. The NAIAC formally adopted this recommendation for such a reporting system in November.

“Our full understanding of how these systems are being used and where they might fail is still in flux,” says Guha. “An adverse-event-reporting system is a necessary prerequisite for more effective governance.”

MODERNIZING GOVERNMENT

While the latest AI models demand new regulatory tools and frameworks, they also require that we rethink existing ones—a challenge when the various stakeholders often operate in separate silos.

“Policymakers might propose something that is technically impossible. Engineers might propose a technical solution that is flatly illegal.” Ho says. “What you need are people with an understanding of both dimensions.”

Last year, Ho, Christie Lawrence, JD ’24, and Isaac Cui, JD ’25, documented extensive challenges the federal government faced in implementing AI legal requirements in an article. This led Ho to testify before the U.S. Senate on a range of reforms. And this work is driving change. The landmark White House executive order on AI adopted these recommendations, and the proposed AI Leadership to Enable Accountable Deployment (AI LEAD) Act would further codify recommendations, such as the creation of a chief AI officer, agency AI governance boards, and agency strategic planning. These requirements would help ensure the government is able to properly use and govern the technology.

“If generative AI technologies continue on their present trajectory, it seems likely that they will upend many of our assumptions about a copyright system.”

Paul Goldstein, Stella W. and Ira S. Lillick Professor of Law

Ho, as faculty director of RegLab, is also building bridges with local and federal agencies to develop high-impact demonstration projects of machine learning and data science in the public sector.

The RegLab is working with the Internal Revenue Service to modernize the tax-collection system with AI. It is collaborating with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop machine-learning technology to improve environmental compliance. And during the pandemic, it partnered with Santa Clara County to improve the public health department’s wide range of pandemic response programs.

“AI has real potential to transform parts of the public sector,” says Ho. “Our demonstration projects with government agencies help to envision an affirmative view of responsible technology to serve Americans.”

In a sign of an encouraging shift, Ho has observed an increasing number of computer scientists gravitating toward public policy, eager to participate in shaping laws and policy to respond to rapidly advancing AI, as well as law students with deep interests in technology. Alumni of the RegLab have been snapped up to serve in the IRS and the U.S. Digital Service, the technical arm of the executive branch. Ho himself serves as senior advisor on responsible AI to the U.S. Department of Labor. And the law school and the RegLab are front and center in training a new generation of lawyers and technologists to shape this future.

AI GOES TO HOLLYWOOD 

Swaths of books and movies have been made about humans threatened by artificial intelligence, but what happens when the technology becomes a menace to the entertainment industry itself? It’s still early days for generative AI-created novels, films, and other content, but it’s beginning to look like Hollywood has been cast in its own science fiction tale—and the law has a role to play.

“If generative AI technologies continue on their present trajectory,” says the Stella W. and Ira S. Lillick Professor of Law Paul Goldstein , “it seems likely that they will upend many of our assumptions about a copyright system.”

There are two main assumptions behind intellectual property law that AI is on track to disrupt. From feature films and video games with multimillion-dollar budgets to a book whose author took five years to complete, the presumption has been that copyright law is necessary to incentivize costly investments. Now AI has upended that logic.

“When a video game that today requires a $100 million investment can be produced by generative AI at a cost that is one or two orders of magnitude lower,” says Goldstein, “the argument for copyright as an incentive to investment will weaken significantly across popular culture.”

The second assumption, resting on the consumer side of the equation, is no more stable. Copyright, a system designed in part to protect the creators of original works, has also long been justified as maximizing consumer choice. However, in an era of AI-powered recommendation engines, individual choice becomes less and less important, and the argument will only weaken as streaming services “get a lot better at figuring out what suits your tastes and making decisions for you,” says Goldstein.

If these bedrock assumptions behind copyright are both going to be rendered “increasingly irrelevant” by AI, what then is the necessary response? Goldstein says we need to find legal frameworks that will better safeguard human authors.

“I believe that authorship and autonomy are independent values that deserve to be protected,” he says. Goldstein foresees a framework in which AI-produced works are clearly labeled as such to guarantee consumers have accurate information.

The labeling approach may have the advantage of simplicity, but on its own it is not enough. At a moment of unprecedented disruption, Goldstein argues, lawmakers should be looking for additional ways to support human creators who will find themselves competing with AIs that can generate works faster and for a fraction of the cost. The solution, he suggests, might involve looking to practices in countries that have traditionally given greater thought to supporting artists, such as those in Europe.

“There will always be an appetite for authenticity, a taste for the real thing,” Goldstein says. “How else do you explain why someone will pay $2,000 to watch Taylor Swift from a distant balcony, when they could stream the same songs in their living room for pennies?” In the case of intellectual property law, catching up with the technology may mean heeding our human impulse—and taking the necessary steps to facilitate the deeply rooted urge to make and share authentic works of art.  SL

TikTok creators sue U.S. government over potential ban

The lawsuit is the second legal challenge to the new law, which creators say violates their First Amendment rights.

Eight TikTok creators sued the U.S. government Tuesday over a new law that would force the sale or ban of the popular video app, arguing that the law violates their First Amendment rights by potentially shuttering a medium of communication that has become a critical “part of American life.”

The 33-page complaint echoes the arguments TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, made last week in a separate legal challenge by calling the law “unconstitutionally overbroad” and contending that it would violate the free speech rights of 170 million users nationwide. President Biden signed the law last month.

The law “threatens to deprive them, and the rest of the country, of this distinctive means of expression and communication,” the creators’ suit states. “It bans an entire medium of communication and all the speech communicated through that medium, even though, at the very least, the vast majority of that speech is protected.”

In a statement, the Justice Department said it looked forward to defending the law in court. “This legislation addresses critical national security concerns in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations,” the statement said.

The creators hail from eight states and represent a diversity of professions, backgrounds and political leanings. They are Brian Firebaugh, 43, a cattle rancher in Hubbard, Tex.; Chloe Joy Sexton, 29, who owns a cookie-baking business in Memphis; Kiera Spann, a recent college graduate in Charlotte whose seeks to educate women about sexual violence and politics; Topher Townsend , 33, an Air Force veteran and rapper who posts videos quizzing people about the Bible; Talia Cadet, 34, a lifestyle creator in D.C.; Timothy Marin, 25, a college football coach in North Dakota who talks about sports; Paul Tran, 43, a beauty creator in Atlanta who owns a skin care brand; and Steven King, 50, a creator in Arizona who posts about comedy, fashion and relationships.

All of them told The Washington Post that TikTok is an essential outlet for speech and self-expression and that they rely on it to educate, advocate and connect with millions of people as well as to make a living.

“As Americans we should be free to choose whatever app we want to use … especially when they haven’t proved or provided evidence to show the danger they’ve set out that is unique to TikTok,” Townsend said in a video posted to his TikTok account.

Firebaugh was harsh in his criticism of supporters of the law in an interview with The Post: “I’m a firm believer that if you just want to ban something that 170 million Americans are using to express themselves, to use their voice and share their opinions and their creativity, because you’re scared or nervous about something, that’s communist and it’s cowardice.”

The creators are being represented by Davis Wright Tremaine, a firm based in Seattle known for its cases involving First Amendment and media law. TikTok is covering the creators’ attorney fees. Erich Andersen, the ByteDance general counsel leading the company’s lawsuit , also worked at the firm as an attorney in the early 1990s before joining Microsoft.

Davis Wright Tremaine recently sued — and lost — in a news media effort to require New York Superior Court to allow the televising of former president Donald Trump’s trial on charges he falsified business records to conceal a hush money payoff to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. The firm represented a consortium of roughly 20 news organizations, including The Post.

In 2020, the firm represented three TikTok creators who sued the government over Trump’s executive order banning the app. A federal judge in Pennsylvania sided with the creators and blocked the order, saying the government’s claim that the app posed a national security threat was “phrased in the hypothetical” and should not outweigh the restrictive effect on Americans’ free speech rights.

The firm also represented five TikTok creators in Montana who sued the state last year over its TikTok ban. Their case was consolidated with a separate TikTok lawsuit, and a federal judge ruled in their favor, ordering the stop of a ban he said “violates the Constitution in more ways than one.”

@loveandpebble Tb to when you and your injured husband fly into DC to fight fo your small business ❤️✨🇺🇸 #sharktank #sharktok #womenownedbusiness #tiktokban #tiktoknews ♬ YOU LOOK SO DIVINEEE - politecatpiastri

Ambika Kumar, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine representing the creators, argued that the law as it stands is an effective ban on the app. “This is not a forced sale, which itself would be unconstitutional. It is a ban,” she said.

The creators in the lawsuit told The Post that no other apps can replicate TikTok’s ability to reach people. Each creator said they had attempted to leverage other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and X with little success.

“Go look at my Instagram,” Sexton said. “Every single video I’ve ever shared on TikTok has been shared on Instagram as well. There is a drastic difference in followers. TikTok so much more quickly connects me with the people who care about seeing what I do.”

Cadet, whose posts focus on travel, Black-owned businesses and things to do in D.C., echoed that sentiment. “This reach I’ve had on TikTok, I haven’t been able to experience it on other apps,” she said. “It feels like our government is trying to tell us how and with whom we can communicate, and I feel like that is not a road we want to go down.”

TikTok is the first non-American-owned platform to meaningfully challenge Google’s and Meta’s dominance of the social media landscape. Researchers have suggested that a ban would primarily benefit Meta, which has struggled to compete with TikTok’s skyrocketing popularity.

In 2017, the app Musical.ly was sold to ByteDance, which relaunched it in the United States as TikTok the following year, in large part because the company lacked the resources to compete with Meta. In 2022, Meta hired a right-leaning communications firm to spread misinformation about TikTok in local media across the country, some of which was later repeated by members of Congress .

Unlike past legal actions involving TikTok creators, the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as required by a provision in the law designating the appeals court as the “exclusive jurisdiction” for any legal challenge. The appeals court’s ruling can only be overturned by the Supreme Court.

The suit reiterates TikTok and ByteDance’s argument that the law was based on no “actual, non-speculative” proof that the app posed data-security or propaganda harms. “Without any evidence,” the complaint says, “certain Congressmembers created a fiction that TikTok curates content to push propaganda and ‘drive certain messages to divide Americans, to destabilize our politics … [and] tear our country apart.’”

The suit also quotes members of Congress to make the case that the TikTok law was largely driven by their “viewpoint-based” disagreements with the videos that have gone viral on TikTok, including around the Israel-Gaza war .

It cites one example from this month, when Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the law’s “overwhelming support” was partially motivated by lawmakers’ suspicions about “the number of mentions of Palestinians relative to other social media sites” — seemingly a reference to a disputed study about the gap between the number of TikTok videos with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian hashtags.

Nathan Robinson, editor of the left-wing magazine Current Affairs, predicted on X shortly after Romney’s admission that it would be “used in legal filings to argue that the TikTok ban is a clear [First Amendment] violation and the ‘national security’ justification was a pretext.”

Kumar, the creators’ attorney, said the government’s alleged concerns about data privacy would not be addressed by banning the app. “If the government is concerned about data security, it should propose a regulation narrowly tailored to that purpose,” she said.

The creators’ suit attempts to preempt a common argument from TikTok’s critics — that its users could still express themselves elsewhere — by saying TikTok’s “defining traits” stem from the “editorial decisions” made by its content-recommendation algorithm, which decides which videos appear on users’ feeds.

The creators, the complaint said, have used TikTok to engage in political speech, promote points of social advocacy, and discuss news and current events — and they said they found the other platforms lacking.

“TikTok is the only platform where an average person can freely express themselves with the possibility of reaching millions across the world,” Townsend told The Post. “I’ve tried Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, you name it. Every way you cut it, my traffic to my music, to my website, mainly comes through TikTok.”

The complaint notes that Biden’s reelection campaign intends to continue using TikTok and quotes a campaign official saying, “We would be silly to write off any place where people are getting information about the president.”

The creators said they worried about how new owners could affect the “types of expression” the platform promoted; as an example, the lawsuit cited Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, later rebranded as X, after which far-right users were reinstated and journalists were banned.

The complaint equates TikTok with a traditional publisher and says the law would prevent creators from “using their chosen editor and publisher to engage in protected communication.”

Facebook, while at times contending that it is an impartial tech platform for users’ speech, has made a similar argument in court, claiming its moderation and engineering choices are editorial decisions that should be regarded as protected speech.

“From the standpoint of the First Amendment, this restriction is no different from prohibiting American freelance writers from submitting articles to The Economist, or American musicians from disseminating songs through Spotify,” the TikTok creators’ complaint states.

One of the creators, Steven King, who lives in Arizona and has more than 6 million followers, called the potential ban “fascist” and said, “Our freedom of speech is on the line.”

“On TikTok, we’re able to consume and receive information that is not filtered, that hasn’t had a narrative driven by politicians,” he said. “We have direct access to find out what is happening around the world at our fingertips.”

@btypep #KeepTikTok ♬ The Star-Spangled Banner - War Hippies

Before the lawsuit was filed, creators said the law firm began contacting them and asking about their interest in participating in a class-action lawsuit — in some cases after they publicly posted about opposing a ban.

The creators’ case, unlike previous court fights, will face an unconventional venue in the D.C. appeals court, where cases can often take more than a year to resolve.

The court, which is often called to decide constitutional and administrative questions related to government affairs, will probably have a three-judge special panel review the creators’ attorneys’ motions before deciding how the case should proceed.

In their petition for review, TikTok and ByteDance asked the court to halt the sell-or-ban law, though the court has yet to rule on the request. For now, ByteDance’s forced-sale deadline, which could be extended if the government sees progress toward a sale, is scheduled to end Jan. 19, a day before inauguration.

40 Facts About Elektrostal

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 10 May 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

• Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
• With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

Elektrostal's fascinating history, vibrant culture, and promising future make it a city worth exploring. For more captivating facts about cities around the world, discover the unique characteristics that define each city . Uncover the hidden gems of Moscow Oblast through our in-depth look at Kolomna. Lastly, dive into the rich industrial heritage of Teesside, a thriving industrial center with its own story to tell.

Was this page helpful?

Our commitment to delivering trustworthy and engaging content is at the heart of what we do. Each fact on our site is contributed by real users like you, bringing a wealth of diverse insights and information. To ensure the highest standards of accuracy and reliability, our dedicated editors meticulously review each submission. This process guarantees that the facts we share are not only fascinating but also credible. Trust in our commitment to quality and authenticity as you explore and learn with us.

Share this Fact:

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

TikTok content creators sue the US government over law that could ban the popular platform

FILE - The TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone screen in Tokyo on Sept. 28, 2020. TikTok says it’s going to start automatically labeling content that’s made by artificial intelligence when it’s uploaded from certain platforms. TikTok says its efforts are an attempt to combat misinformation from being spread on its social media platform. The announcement came on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

• Copy Link copied

Eight TikTok content creators sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, issuing another challenge to the new federal law that would ban the popular social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company doesn’t sell its stakes within a year.

Attorneys for the creators argue in the lawsuit that the law violates users’ First Amendment rights to free speech, echoing arguments made by TikTok in a separate lawsuit filed by the company last week. The legal challenge could end up before the Supreme Court .

The complaint filed Tuesday comes from a diverse set of content creators, including a Texas-based rancher who has previously appeared in a TikTok commercial, a creator in Arizona who uses TikTok to show his daily life and spread awareness about LGBTQ issues, as well as a business owner who sells skincare products on TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of the platform.

The lawsuit says the creators “rely on TikTok to express themselves, learn, advocate for causes, share opinions, create communities, and even make a living.”

“They have found their voices, amassed significant audiences, made new friends, and encountered new and different ways of thinking — all because of TikTok’s novel way of hosting, curating, and disseminating speech,” it added, arguing the new law would deprive them and the rest of the country “of this distinctive means of expression and communication.”

A spokesperson for TikTok said the company was covering the legal costs for the lawsuit, which was filed in a Washington appeals court. It is being led by the same law firm that represented creators who challenged Montana’s statewide ban on the platform last year. In November, a judge blocked that law from going into effect.

The Department of Justice said that the legislation that could ban TikTok “addresses critical national security concerns in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations. We look forward to defending the legislation in court.”

The federal law comes at a time of intense strategic rivalry between the U.S. and China on a host of issues and as the two butt heads over sensitive geopolitical topics like China’s support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. lawmakers and administration officials have aired concerns about how well TikTok can protect users’ data from Chinese authorities and have argued its algorithm could be used to spread pro-China propaganda, which TikTok disputes.

Under the law, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance would be required to sell the platform to an approved buyer within nine months. If a sale is in progress, the company will get a three-month extension to complete the deal.

However, TikTok and ByteDance said in their lawsuit last week that they would still have no choice but to shut down by Jan. 19 because continuing to operate in the U.S. wouldn’t be commercially, technologically or legally possible.

They assert it would be impossible for ByteDance to divest its U.S. TikTok platform as a separate entity from the rest of TikTok, which has 1 billion users worldwide — most of them outside of the United States. A U.S.-only TikTok would operate as an island detached from the rest of the world, the lawsuit argues. It also says the Chinese government — which would need to approve such a sale — has “made clear” it would not permit a sale of the recommendation algorithm that populates users’ feeds and has been the “key to the success of TikTok in the United States.”

In an interview, Brian Firebaugh, the Hubbard, Texas-based rancher who is part of the creator lawsuit, said he started his TikTok account in 2020 to help establish his brand and market the cattle-related products that he sells online. That decision allowed him to quit his full-time job and live off the income he was making from TikTok, where he currently has more than 430,000 followers.

Firebaugh, 44, said TikTok has also helped him build an online community with other ranchers and gave him the opportunity to participate in a Netflix reality show where his winnings allowed him and his wife to afford the adoption process for their son. Losing TikTok, he said, would disrupt everything.

“One hundred percent of our customers come from TikTok,” Firebaugh said. “For that to go away, you’re now stealing money out of my family’s mouths.”

Chloe Joy Sexton, a 29-year-old content creator who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, and runs a cookie business called Chloe’s Giant Cookies, said she started experimenting with TikTok four years ago after losing her prior job. Sexton said she had been posting content on other social media platforms, but only TikTok created a viral trajectory for her baking. Today, she has more than 2 million followers on the app, where she has also shared more intimate details about her life, such as losing her mother to brain cancer and subsequently adopting her little sister.

“There has been no evidence whatsoever that my information is in danger or anybody else’s,” said Sexton, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “Nobody has provided that — not the government, not anybody else. And to base this purchase, this tug of war that changes my life off of a hypothetical is so hurtful to me personally, because my government at that point is not protecting me.”

The creators are asking the court to issue a declaration saying the law is unconstitutional and an order that would prevent Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing it.