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AI Trends for 2026

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As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates across industries, our AI Trends for 2026 series examines what changed in 2025...

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As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates across industries, our AI Trends for 2026 series examines what changed in 2025 and what lies ahead, focusing on how AI is impacting legal risk, regulatory oversight, and commercial strategy. Click into each topic to learn more. <div><span class="rich-text-component-embed" data-component-info="{&quot;uid&quot;:&quot;blt217f1c0a4f054f05&quot;,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en-us&quot;,&quot;_version&quot;:5,&quot;table_source&quot;:&quot;&lt;div class=\&quot;overview__description--resource\&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=\&quot;dangerously-set-container\&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026-navigating-the-patchwork-of-laws-and-risks-when-using-ai-tools-for-employment\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Navigating the Patchwork of Laws and Risks When Using AI Tools for Employment&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Andrew R. Turnbull&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Employers face escalating scrutiny as state AI laws, discrimination risk, and legacy employment obligations converge around AI-driven hiring and workforce management tools.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---the-federal-government-s-use-and-regulation-of-ai\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Federal Government’s Use and Regulation of AI&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tina D. Reynolds; Brian E. Doll, Jr.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Federal AI policy is shifting toward faster infrastructure deployment, stricter procurement standards, and potential preemption of state laws, raising new compliance and enforcement considerations for AI vendors and contractors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---the-convergence-of-ai-stablecoins\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Convergence of AI &amp;amp; Stablecoins&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Alexandra Steinberg Barrage&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As AI platforms explore transacting on consumers’ behalf, stablecoins (and programmable payments) may play an important role. We expect increasing focus on appropriate consumer protections as this technology scales.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---a-golden-age-for-ai-technology-patents-at-the-uspto\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;A Golden Age for AI Technology Patents at the USPTO&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Jonathan Bockman; Joshua A. Crawford&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sweeping USPTO policy changes are making 2026 one of the most favorable years in over a decade for securing AI and software patents in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---ai-and-algorithmic-bias-in-financial-services\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;AI and Algorithmic Bias in Financial Services&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Avy Mallik&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Regulators are intensifying scrutiny of AI-driven underwriting, pricing, and fraud detection, making explainability, fairness testing, and vendor oversight core compliance imperatives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---china-s-local-first-ai-ecosystem-emerging-compliance-standards-and-market-implications\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;China’s “Local-First” AI Ecosystem: Emerging Compliance Standards and Market Implications&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Chuan Sun&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;China’s standards-driven, localization-heavy AI regime is reshaping model design, data strategy, and market access for both domestic and foreign AI providers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---how-ai-is-rewiring-clinical-workflows-and-medical-devices\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;How AI Is Rewiring Clinical Workflows and Medical Devices&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Brigid DeCoursey Bondoc; Megan K. Dhillon; Atiq Chowdhury&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;AI adoption in healthcare is accelerating across clinical documentation, population health, drug discovery, and medical devices, alongside heightened FDA, CMS, and data-governance scrutiny.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---ai-driven-threats-and-the-next-phase-of-cyber-defense\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;AI-Driven Threats and the Next Phase of Cyber Defense&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Miriam H. Wugmeister&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As threat actors weaponize AI, organizations must deploy AI-enabled defenses while ensuring governance, validation, and regulatory-ready incident response frameworks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---how-national-competitiveness-is-reshaping-tech-antitrust\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;How National Competitiveness Is Reshaping Tech Antitrust&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Alexander Okuliar&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;U.S. antitrust enforcement is evolving toward a more pragmatic, economics-driven approach informed by national competitiveness, innovation, and industrial policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---eu-shifts-from-expansion-to-consolidation\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;EU Shifts from Expansion to Consolidation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Marijn Storm&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;EU digital regulation is entering a consolidation phase, with proposed Omnibus reforms aimed at easing implementation burdens while preserving core AI Act and GDPR requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---how-states-will-shape-ai-enforcement\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;How States Will Shape AI Enforcement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Marian A. Waldmann Agarwal&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the absence of federal AI legislation, state attorneys general will emerge as the most active AI regulators through privacy, profiling, and consumer-protection enforcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026-power-not-compute-becomes-bottleneck-for-ai-infrastructure\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Power Becomes a Primary Bottleneck for AI Infrastructure&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tabitha Saw; Theodore S. Seltzer&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Energy access, grid capacity, and power economics are now the primary constraints shaping AI data center development and infrastructure strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026-investor-discipline-supplants-ai-valuation-euphoria\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Investor Discipline Supplants AI Valuation Euphoria&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Peter J. Fusco; Jimmy M.H. Bromley&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Investor enthusiasm for AI remains strong, but valuation premiums are increasingly tied to differentiation, execution, and credible paths to near-term profitability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026-congress-signals-heightened-oversight-of-ai\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Congress Signals Heightened Oversight of AI&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Carlos Felipe Uriarte; Kimberly Hamm&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Comprehensive federal AI legislation is unlikely in today’s divided Congress. Instead, we are likely to see congressional action on AI through investigations, hearings, and targeted bills focused on export controls, data centers, content integrity, and workforce impact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026---copyright-litigation-shifts-from-training-data-to-ai-outputs\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Copyright Litigation Shifts from Training Data to AI Outputs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Joseph C. Gratz&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;AI copyright disputes are increasingly centered on allegedly infringing outputs rather than training data, raising complex questions about liability allocation across developers, deployers, and users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026-redefining-product-safety-in-the-age-of-ai\&quot; target=\&quot;-blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Redefining Product Safety in the Age of AI&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Erin Bosman; Julie Park&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As AI outpaces traditional product liability frameworks, emerging federal policy signals and historical analogies suggest that process-driven governance, documentation, and risk management will shape how AI safety and accountability evolve in 2026.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h5&gt;&lt;a href=\&quot;https://mofotech.mofo.com/topics/ai-trends-for-2026-return-of-the-brussels-effect-ai-transparency-requirements-come-to-california\&quot; target=\&quot;_blank\&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;em&gt;Return of the Brussels Effect: AI Transparency Requirements Come to California&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Justin Haan; Marijn Storm; Marisa Colon&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;California’s new AI transparency laws mirror key obligations under the EU AI Act, signaling a renewed “Brussels Effect” and creating an opportunity for enterprises to align global AI compliance, disclosure, and governance programs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;AI Trends for 2026 posts list&quot;,&quot;publish_details&quot;:{&quot;time&quot;:&quot;2026-02-26T18:03:12.424Z&quot;,&quot;user&quot;:&quot;blt02c6960575474003&quot;,&quot;environment&quot;:&quot;bltf4674cd9142c5020&quot;,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en-us&quot;,&quot;_trace&quot;:&quot;array_node;description;publish_details&quot;,&quot;_key&quot;:&quot;publish_details&quot;},&quot;_fetched&quot;:true,&quot;_content_type_uid&quot;:&quot;table_content&quot;,&quot;_trace&quot;:&quot;array_node;description&quot;,&quot;_key&quot;:&quot;key&quot;}" data-component-type="table_content" data-component-inline="false"></div>

AI Trends for 2026