Artificial Intelligence

1. AI Licensing, Commercial Contracts, and Data Ownership

Unified provides specialized services for companies developing or implementing AI technologies, ensuring compliance with emerging AI regulations and best practices:

• Drafting and negotiating AI-specific licensing agreements, including machine learning model licenses and AI-driven software solutions.

• Structuring agreements that protect the ownership of AI algorithms, machine learning models, and the data used for training these systems.

• Advising on terms of service and EULAs for AI platforms, ensuring transparency in how AI tools are used, particularly in industries where ethics and accountability are paramount, such as healthcare, finance, and legal tech.

• Addressing unique issues related to continuous model updates, algorithmic transparency, bias mitigation, and AI ethics in contracts for AI-powered SaaS or on-premises deployments.

2. AI Data Privacy, Ethics, and Security Compliance

Unified helps AI companies navigate the complex regulatory environment governing data privacy, AI ethics, and security:

• Ensuring compliance with global data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, especially for AI systems that rely on personal or sensitive data for training and predictive analytics.

• Advising on emerging AI regulations, such as the EU AI Act and U.S. state-level AI laws, with a focus on ethical AI standards like algorithmic transparency, fairness, and accountability.

• Drafting data processing agreements (DPAs) tailored to the AI industry, with considerations for issues like data sourcing, training data integrity, and preventing bias in machine learning models.

• Implementing privacy-by-design frameworks and conducting internal audits to ensure that AI systems are designed and deployed in accordance with both legal and ethical standards.

• Helping companies integrate AI ethics frameworks into their operations, ensuring their AI solutions align with principles of fairness, accountability, and transparency (FAT), which are crucial for building trust with users and regulators.

3. Intellectual Property Protection for AI Technologies

AI innovations require robust intellectual property protection strategies. Unified provides legal expertise to safeguard these assets:

• Advising on the patentability of AI algorithms, machine learning models, and other AI-driven innovations, helping companies protect their competitive edge.

• Drafting and negotiating agreements related to the development, ownership, and licensing of AI technologies, with a focus on data ownership and intellectual property rights for AI-created outputs.

• Managing intellectual property portfolios, including protecting trademarks, patents, and trade secrets tied to AI innovations, ensuring comprehensive global protection.

• Handling disputes involving AI-related intellectual property, including unauthorized use of machine learning models, misappropriation of training data, and IP infringement related to AI technologies.

4. Mergers, Acquisitions, and AI-Specific Capital Raises

AI companies face unique challenges in M&A transactions and capital raises, particularly regarding intellectual property, data rights, and AI ethics compliance. Unified provides expert guidance in these high-stakes deals:

• Conducting comprehensive due diligence for M&A deals involving AI technologies, assessing risks tied to AI model ownership, data privacy compliance, and ethical concerns related to algorithm bias or decision-making transparency.

• Negotiating purchase agreements, term sheets, and integration plans that address the complexities of AI technologies, such as proprietary algorithms, data usage rights, and AI ethics considerations.

• Advising on venture capital raises for AI companies, ensuring favorable terms and structures for growing businesses, while positioning AI ethics and transparency as competitive advantages.

• Supporting post-acquisition integration, ensuring AI technologies, data sets, and intellectual property rights are seamlessly aligned with the acquirer's infrastructure, while maintaining compliance with AI ethics and regulatory requirements.

5. Regulatory Compliance, AI Ethics Audits, and Risk Management

Unified ensures AI companies remain compliant with evolving global regulations while proactively addressing ethical concerns and managing risks tied to AI development and deployment:

• Advising on global AI regulations, including the EU AI Act, U.S. federal and state AI laws, and sector-specific guidelines such as those from the FDA for AI in healthcare or the FTC for consumer AI products.

• Conducting AI ethics audits to assess algorithmic fairness, bias mitigation, transparency, and accountability in AI decision-making systems. These audits ensure that AI models are not only legally compliant but ethically sound.

• Helping companies design and implement AI ethics frameworks, including establishing internal AI ethics committees or governance bodies to oversee AI projects, ensuring that development and deployment follow ethical guidelines.

• Ensuring compliance with specific industry requirements for AI, such as explainability standards in finance, accountability in healthcare AI, and safety standards for autonomous vehicles or robotics.

• Developing risk management strategies to address ethical concerns in AI, such as bias detection, decision-making transparency, and model explainability, to reduce the risk of regulatory penalties and reputational damage.

6. AI Vendor Management, Outsourcing, and Ethical Integration

Unified helps companies manage relationships with third-party vendors, particularly those providing data, AI development, or cloud infrastructure services, ensuring these relationships align with AI ethics and legal standards:

• Drafting and negotiating AI-specific vendor agreements, ensuring ethical use of data, fair and transparent training of AI models, and compliance with both legal and ethical AI standards.

• Reviewing contracts with third-party cloud providers, data annotation services, and AI development teams to ensure data security, bias mitigation, and adherence to AI ethics frameworks.

• Conducting vendor audits and performance reviews to ensure compliance with contractual obligations related to AI ethics, such as avoiding algorithmic bias, ensuring model fairness, and meeting transparency requirements.

• Providing guidance on ethical AI integration during outsourcing, ensuring that third-party AI models and services used by the company meet ethical standards, particularly in high-risk areas like healthcare, finance, and employment decision-making.