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Artificial intelligence (AI) offers extraordinary opportunities but also complex challenges as it reshapes industries and redefines how businesses operate across sectors. At the forefront of these developments, Loeb & Loeb has partnered with clients to navigate this evolving landscape with strategies that protect innovation and enable growth. Read below to see how we supported clients in 2025—from securing patents for groundbreaking technologies to advising on governance, transactions and strategic partnerships—and explore predictions from our lawyers for what’s on the horizon for 2026 and beyond.
Our recent work reflects the transformative power of AI across critical sectors and underscores the essential role of legal guidance in protecting and enabling innovation. In 2025, Loeb lawyers prosecuted patent applications for technologies that use AI to identify better approaches to complex medical conditions and secured intellectual property for AI-powered character creation designed for next-generation commerce experiences. These efforts enabled clients to bring transformative solutions to market while safeguarding their competitive edge.
In cybersecurity, we obtained a patent for technology that leverages AI to detect suspicious web activity, reinforcing the importance of proactive digital defense in an era of escalating threats. We also advised global enterprises generally on AI governance, chatbot deployment and content generation, helping them harness AI responsibly while maintaining compliance and trust.
In addition, Loeb’s strategic counsel helps clients accelerate business transformation. Our representation of an AI-powered infrastructure remediation platform in a significant funding round illustrates how investment in AI solutions can eliminate security backlogs and unlock growth. Similarly, guiding health care leaders through joint ventures and licensing agreements for AI-based technologies demonstrates how collaboration and legal foresight are shaping the future of care delivery.
As we enter a new year, we look forward to continuing to partner with our clients to lead and innovate in the AI space. Here are some of our predictions for what 2026 may bring and how these AI-related trends may impact your business.
2026 Predictions
Corporate Transactions
AI will play a transformative role in accelerating corporate transactions—from due diligence to post-closing integration—by automating routine tasks such as analyzing large volumes of data and contracts. As AI-driven tools continue to advance, M&A processes will become more efficient and streamlined than ever.
Privacy
2026 will be the year of the privacy signal. With the EU shifting from cookie banners to browser-based opt-outs and app stores preparing to transmit age signals, consent will increasingly move as code rather than as pop-ups. Adtech will lean heavily on Global Privacy Protocol (GPP) and other privacy strings, and companies that succeed will invest in infrastructure to ingest, reconcile and propagate these signals across products and channels so consent follows the person, not the device.
Advertising & Media
AI will increasingly automate advertising decisions in 2026, driving real-time optimization while heightening legal exposure related to consent, discrimination and advertising claims. Sustainable performance will rely on embedding legally defensible controls into AI-driven advertising workflows.
Transformative IT & Sourcing
New AI-based service offerings will transform services delivery and financial terms for managed services across outsourced IT, business process and customer experience functions.
Emerging Technology
More companies will create AI-powered tools that “tell” potential users how AI can be used in their business, taking some of the guesswork out of AI deployment—shifting from chatbots and general-use agentic systems, which can be overwhelming to integrate into existing business flows, to narrower tools created for specific, defined use cases or to solve a specified problem. These tools will make AI more accessible to many companies and users that otherwise have not been able to find an efficient use for such tools.
Litigation
As first-of-their-kind copyright cases against AI platforms make their way through the courts, we anticipate more court rulings testing theories of secondary liability in cases alleging that these platforms output content that is similar to copyright owners’ works. If those rulings go against the AI platforms, expect more eye-popping settlements.
Sports
AI will continue to reshape the sports ecosystem by enabling precision-targeted fan experiences and dynamically personalized sponsorships while raising the stakes around athlete data, biometrics and name, image and likeness (NIL) governance. Competitive advantage will hinge on who can monetize AI-driven insights without overstepping privacy, consent or regulatory boundaries.
Entertainment
Technology will continue to allow creators of all levels and experience to make high-fidelity content more efficiently so they can follow the “always-on” way of storytelling that influencers in the creator economy have found so effective for engaging their audiences.
Patents
Both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and practitioners will increasingly use AI tools to help with prior art searching and examination. As these tools become more reliable, patent application pendency may be reduced and the resulting patents may be stronger than those produced through traditional prosecution. Further, as AI use expands across industries and the line between human contributions (which may be patentable) and AI contributions (which may not be) continues to blur, applicants and practitioners will need to pay close attention to the origin of invention conception to satisfy inventorship requirements.
Employment & Labor
More states will enact laws and regulations governing the use of AI in employment, focusing on two key issues: disclosure and bias audits. Employers should be prepared to disclose when and how they are using AI in connection with employment decisions and ensure that any tools they use have undergone a bias audit.
