Aggressive Governance of Agentic AI: Frameworks, Regulation, and Global Tensions
Published Nov 13, 2025
In the past two weeks the field of agentic-AI governance crystallized around new technical and policy levers: two research frameworks—AAGATE (NIST AI RMF‐aligned, released late Oct 2025) and AURA (mid‐Oct 2025)—aim to embed threat modeling, measurement, continuous assurance and risk scoring into agentic systems, while regulators have accelerated action: the U.S. FDA convened on therapy chatbots on Nov 5, 2025; Texas passed TRAIGA (HB 149), effective 2026‐01‐01, limiting discrimination claims to intent and creating a test sandbox; and the EU AI Act phases begin Aug 2, 2025 (GPAI), Aug 2, 2026 (high‐risk) and Aug 2, 2027 (products), even as codes and harmonized standards are delayed into late 2025. This matters because firms face compliance uncertainty, shifting liability and operational monitoring demands; near‐term priorities are finalizing EU standards and codes, FDA rulemaking, and operationalizing state sandboxes.
Amazon vs Perplexity: Legal Battle Over Agentic AI and Platform Control
Published Nov 11, 2025
Amazon’s suit against Perplexity over its Comet agentic browser crystallizes emerging legal and regulatory fault lines around autonomous AI. Amazon alleges Comet disguises automated activity to access accounts and make purchases, harming user experience and ad revenues; Perplexity says agents act under user instruction with local credential storage. Key disputes center on agent transparency, authorized use, credential handling, and platform control—raising potential CFAA, privacy, and fraud exposures. The case signals that platforms will tighten terms and enforcement, while developers of agentic tools face heightened compliance, security, and disclosure obligations. Academic safeguards (e.g., human-in-the-loop risk frameworks) are advancing, but tensions between commercial platform models and agent autonomy foreshadow wider legal battles across e‐commerce, finance, travel, and content ecosystems.
Copyright Rulings Reshape AI Training, Licensing, and Legal Risk
Published Nov 10, 2025
No major AI model, benchmark, or policy breakthroughs were identified in the past 14 days; instead, U.S. copyright litigation has emerged as the defining constraint shaping AI deployment. Key decisions—Bartz v. Anthropic (transformative use upheld but pirated-book libraries not protected) and Kadrey v. Meta (no demonstrated market harm)—clarify that training can be fair use if sourced lawfully. High-profile outcomes, including Anthropic’s proposed $1.5B settlement for ~500,000 works, underscore substantial financial risk tied to data provenance. Expect increased investment in licensing, provenance tracking, and removal of pirated content; greater leverage for authors and publishers where harm is provable; and likely regulatory attention to codify these boundaries. Legal strategy, not just technical capability, will increasingly determine AI commercial viability and compliance.
EU Weighs One-Year Delay to AI Act After Big Tech Pressure
Published Nov 10, 2025
The EU is weighing changes to the AI Act’s enforcement timeline via the Digital Omnibus (due 19 Nov 2025), including a proposed one‐year delay of high‐risk rules (Aug 2026→Aug 2027) and targeted simplifications that could exempt narrowly scoped administrative systems. Motivated by Big Tech and U.S. pressure, delays in technical standardization, and member‐state calls for clearer, less burdensome compliance, the proposals would give firms breathing room but prolong legal uncertainty. Consumers could face weaker protections, while global regulatory norms and investment dynamics risk shifting. Any postponement should be conditional and phased, preserving non‐negotiable safeguards—transparency, impact assessments and risk mitigation—while aligning rules with available standards and tooling.
EU Eyes Softened AI Act: Delays, Exemptions Threaten Accountability
Published Nov 10, 2025
EU member states are considering rolling back elements of the Artificial Intelligence Act under the Digital Omnibus initiative—postponing penalties until August 2, 2027, carving exemptions for “high‐risk” systems used in narrow/procedural roles, and creating a grace period for AI‐labeling. Driven by Big Tech pressure, U.S. trade concerns and competitiveness debates, the proposals aim to ease compliance but risk legal uncertainty, regulatory loopholes, weaker public protections and advantages for incumbents. Analysts warn such softening could erode the EU’s global regulatory influence. Safeguards should include clear definitions of “high‐risk” and “procedural,” independent transparency and audit metrics, layered enforcement that preserves core obligations, and interim guidance ahead of any delay. A decisive vote on November 19, 2025 will shape Europe’s—and the world’s—AI governance.
RLI Reveals Agents Can't Automate Remote Work; Liability Looms
Published Nov 10, 2025
The Remote Labor Index benchmark (240 freelance projects, 6,000+ human hours, $140k payouts) finds frontier AI agents automate at most 2.5% of real remote work, with frequent failures—technical errors (18%), incomplete submissions (36%), sub‐professional quality (46%) and inconsistent deliverables (15%). These empirical limits, coupled with rising legal scrutiny (e.g., the AI LEAD Act applying product‐liability principles and mounting IP/liability risk for code‐generating tools), compel an expectation reset. Organizations should treat agents as assistive tools, enforce human oversight and robust fallback processes, and maintain documentation of design, data, and error responses to mitigate legal exposure. Benchmarks like RLI provide measurable baselines; until performance improves materially, prioritize augmentation over replacement.
Agentic AI Fails Reality Test: Remote Labor Index Reveals Critical Gaps
Published Nov 10, 2025
Scale AI and CAIS’s Remote Labor Index exposes a stark gap between agentic AI marketing and real-world performance: top systems completed under 3% of Upwork tasks by value ($1,810 of $143,991). Agents excel in narrow reasoning tasks but fail at toolchain use, multi-step workflows, and error propagation, leading to brittle automation and repeated mistakes. For enterprises this means agentic systems currently function as assistive tools rather than autonomous labor—requiring human oversight, validation, and safety overhead that can negate cost benefits. Legal and accountability frameworks lag, shifting liability onto users and owners and creating regulatory risk. Organizations should treat current agents cautiously, adopt rigorous benchmarks like the Remote Labor Index, and invest in governance, testing, and phased deployment before large-scale automation.
Allianz Calls for EU Driving License to Certify Autonomous Vehicles
Published Nov 10, 2025
Allianz is urging an EU‐wide “driving license” for autonomous vehicles—a unified certification regime (simulations, standardized physical and real‐world tests) paired with open access to safety‐related in‐vehicle data and a joint database of critical incidents. Its HANDS OFF report shows ADAS cut reversing crashes by 66% and rear‐end collisions by 30%, forecasting 20% fewer accidents by 2035 and 50%+ by 2060 with Level 3–4 adoption. Insurers call for strict owner liability and view existing motor frameworks as broadly suitable despite rising repair and tech costs. Public sentiment is mixed—56% expect equal or better safety, yet 69–72% fear reliability and novelty. Adoption of these proposals in the next 12–24 months could shape EU regulatory harmonization, liability clarity, and public trust in autonomous mobility.