Conference programme

When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) first took effect in the EU, global legal and regulatory discourse heavily focused on the so-called ‘Brussels effect’. Recently, however, as AI takes the centre stage, the imperative for sovereign AI has emerged as a new defining catalyst. In response, the US is actively asserting control over cross-border data flows on national security grounds – such as through bulk data transfer rules – while tightening oversight on advanced AI models following events like the Mythos Preview incident. Concurrently, China seeks to extend its strategic influence through initiatives like the World AI Cooperation Organization, while Asian nations, including Japan, Singapore and South Korea, are pioneering diverse frameworks to accelerate domestic AI innovation. As the prospects for a harmonised global AI governance framework remain uncertain, legal professionals must step up to serve as essential navigators through this increasingly complex policy and regulatory landscape.

As AI, defence, space and digital technologies increasingly converge, companies face unprecedented legal, regulatory and geopolitical challenges. This keynote explores how general counsel can enable innovation while navigating economic security, export controls, cybersecurity, cross-border collaboration and responsible AI governance. Drawing on the experience of a global technology and defence company, the session examines how legal leadership can build trust, resilience and sustainable growth in an increasingly complex world.

As countries race to secure AI leadership, governments are increasingly pursuing sovereign AI strategies through regulation, investment in computing infrastructure, data governance frameworks and public-private partnerships.

This session will explore how jurisdictions in Asia, Europe and North America are balancing innovation, national security and economic competitiveness, and what these developments mean for businesses operating across borders.

A dynamic and interactive session enabling delegates to choose from a curated menu of hot topics at the intersection of intellectual property, technology and communication. The roundtable discussions will explore how innovation is reshaping legal, commercial and regulatory landscapes across sectors including media, entertainment, art, digital platforms, emerging technologies and beyond.

Each table will focus on a forward-looking issue designed to spark lively debate. Moderators will briefly introduce the topic, set the scene and guide the discussion, with participants bringing in their perspectives, questions and practical experience.

1. AI-driven innovation: legal and IP challenges
As artificial intelligence continues to transform industries and drive innovation, it raises a wide range of legal and intellectual property (IP) challenges. This roundtable will explore the evolving legal landscape for AI-driven innovation, covering IP protection, ownership, infringement risks and legal liability. We will discuss new regulatory developments, cross-jurisdictional perspectives and practical approaches to address the challenges and opportunities brought by AI technologies.

2. Agentic AI in action: who’s liable for agentic AI?
As agentic artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to real-world deployment, questions of legal responsibility are becoming increasingly complex. Who should be liable when autonomous AI agents make decisions, take action or cause harm? Join this roundtable to explore emerging legal challenges, share practical experiences and discuss possible approaches to allocating liability among the stakeholders across the AI value chain. This is a unique opportunity to exchange international insights and learn how different legal systems are addressing the risks and responsibilities of agentic AI.

3. Sovereign AI, borderless data? Data sovereignty and cross-border data
How do Asia and Europe approach sovereign artificial intelligence? And where do their priorities meet or differ? This roundtable begins by exploring Asian and European perspectives on AI development, data sovereignty and cross-border data flows. The Asian discussion will examine domestic AI capabilities, locally relevant models and regional data mobility, followed by a European perspective on AI and data sovereignty. Participants will then compare experiences and discuss what effective control requires, whether local hosting is enough and how national priorities can coexist with international data flows and access to global technology.

4. Trusted AI in the real world: governance beyond compliance
As AI moves from controlled pilots into mission-critical legal and business operations, baseline regulatory compliance is no longer enough to earn stakeholder confidence. This roundtable invites participants to examine proactive governance strategies for real world AI deployment, drawing on experience advising clients across sectors and jurisdictions. Discussion may cover, for example, managing algorithmic bias, preserving accountability and human oversight, allocating liability through contracts and translating high-level ethical frameworks into resilient internal controls. Attendees will gain practical legal insights into bridging the gap between statutory obligations and genuine trust from regulators, customers and the public and into sustaining that trust over time.

5. Deepfakes, disinformation, digital authenticity and the limits of regulating truth
‘On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog’ – Peter Steiner for The New Yorker (5 July 1993).
Digitalisation has made it harder to tell what is real. Deepfakes obscure identity, disinformation confuses facts and digital authenticity is necessary to verify source and integrity. The ubiquity of digital life and the rising availability and use of AI systems have accelerated these inherent facets of the internet. Join this roundtable to learn and engage with other legal experts experienced or interested in this topic. We reserve the right to implement random CAPTCHA tests to confirm your humanity.

6. From sustaining tool to disruptive service - how the innovator’s dilemma will split the global legal market in three
As artificial intelligence turns legal services into software-like products sold by outcome, we apply Clayton Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma to map a three-act disruption of the global legal market. Act one (2023–2026): artificial intelligence copilots like Harvey and Legora sustain law firms, boosting leverage and protecting hourly rates. Act two (2026–2028): general counsel deploy the same models in-house, squeezing mid-tier firms between premium firms and in-house AI. Act three (from 2028): AI-native autopilots such as Crosby, Lawhive and emerging Asian equivalents sell completed work directly to clients and move upmarket. We discuss which professional moats will hold and the business impact for law firms.

7. Data centres: growth, regulation and community backlash
The global expansion of data centres, accelerated by artificial intelligence and cloud computing, is reshaping infrastructure investment across jurisdictions. Governments are courting data centre developers with incentives, while also tightening rules on data sovereignty, energy consumption, water use and environmental disclosure. At the same time, local communities are increasingly resisting new projects over land use, noise, heat and limited local benefits, often leading to moratoria, litigation and stricter permitting. We will discuss the evolving regulatory landscape, emerging approaches to managing community opposition and the legal, transactional and financing risks that now shape data centre development worldwide. 

8. AI cybersecurity: do we need guardrails before models are released?
Artificial intelligence models offer powerful tools for cyber defense but may also facilitate cyberattacks. What safeguards should precede release? And who should determine whether the risks are acceptable? This roundtable will explore dual-use capabilities, security by design, pre-release testing and red-teaming, developer accountability and regulatory versus voluntary safeguards. Should different standards apply to controlled services and downloadable model weights? When should release be restricted or postponed? Using a practical hypothetical, participants will exchange cross-jurisdictional perspectives on balancing cybersecurity, innovation and access to defensive tools.

9. Quantum-safe encryption – the next big thing or Y2K reloaded?
Quantum computing’s massive computational power is considered as a key risk to traditional encryption algorithms which may be broken within seconds rather than decades. This development has triggered a call for quantum safe encryption going forward. Is it a requirement for tech vendors to provide quantum safe encryption? How can quantum safe encryption be properly described as a contractual requirement? Or is it simply ‘state of the art’ and ‘best practice’? Will we soon see another wave of quantum encryption clauses built in contracts along the supply chain as we had experienced ahead of the year 2000 (Y2K) issue?

10. Defence technology
This roundtable will talk about the latest trends in defence technology from a legal perspective. We will look at some recent developments in export controls and other related laws, including regulation of battlefield data for artificial intelligence training and the thin line when common items may become dual-use. We will discuss investment and M&A issues such as foreign investment screening, sanctions compliance, due diligence and ESG considerations. We will also cover funding opportunities through NATO and EU programmes, defence procurement and intellectual property and technology transfer. Finally, we will address how AI and autonomous systems are regulated, liability and anti-corruption risks in the defence sector.

11. Back to the moon – sustainable activity
The session will include a discussion on legal aspects of long-term habitation and scientific activity associated with proposed long-term lunar scientific and commercial activities. Subjects include:
•    Habitat design, construction and location
•    Sustainable activities by sovereign nations and corporate actors
•    Property rights and jurisdiction issues
•    Power sources for lunar habitation, mining and research
•    Examples of the health industry in space, pharmaceutical industry research and development

12. Intellectual property strategies in emerging markets and high-tech industries
From computer-implemented inventions and artificial intelligence to quantum computing, digital technologies are redrawing the map of innovation – and of intellectual property. Hosted in Seoul, a dynamic hub of high-tech innovation, this round table brings together international practitioners to examine how patent offices and courts in Europe, the US and emerging markets in Asia are responding, from patent eligibility and AI inventorship to post-quantum security. The discussion will explore integrated protection strategies combining patents, trade secrets, design and copyright, as well as enforcement and licensing in emerging markets. Join us for practical, cross-border insights essential for business lawyers and in-house counsel shaping tomorrow’s technology portfolios.

13. Who funds culture and who owns the intellectual property? How streaming regulation and tax credit rules shape local content commissioning deals
As global streaming platforms increasingly finance and commission local productions, who funds culture – and who ends up owning the intellectual property? This roundtable explores how streaming regulation and audiovisual tax incentives are reshaping commissioning and licensing deals between platforms and independent producers. Drawing on EU and Italian frameworks, with comparative perspectives from Korea and beyond, participants will discuss investment obligations and content quotas, independent producer protections, tax credit eligibility and AI-related safeguards. Expect a practical, lively exchange on ownership of underlying and derivative rights, windows, exclusivity and holdbacks and allocating rights, risks and revenues to sustain local audiovisual productions.

14. Children’s online privacy and safety: APAC’s regulatory moment
Across APAC, regulators are moving decisively to protect children online. Australia has introduced a social media minimum age and digital duty of care legislation and is finalising a Children’s Online Privacy Code. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Rules require verifiable parental consent and restrict tracking and targeted advertising directed at children. Similar initiatives are emerging in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and beyond. This roundtable will touch on these developments, practical challenges with age assurance and parental consent, privacy–safety tensions and how global businesses can build compliant, child-centric products across divergent regional regimes.

The explosive growth of digital platforms, from e-commerce marketplaces and social media networks to app stores and AI-powered content aggregators, has fundamentally disrupted traditional IP enforcement frameworks. Rights holders increasingly find themselves chasing infringement across borderless online ecosystems where the identity of the infringer may be obscured, the platform's legal obligations are unclear, and the applicable law is contested. This panel will discuss these issues across jurisdictions represented on the panel.

The session will examine how AI systems are moving beyond traditional chatbots and software environments into physical and autonomous decision-making roles, including service robots, autonomous vehicles, drones, surgical robotics, and AI agents capable of negotiating contracts, filing regulatory submissions, or conducting transactions online.

The panel will explore how these developments challenge established legal doctrines in areas such as liability, agency, product safety, intellectual property, confidentiality and professional responsibility, and will provide practical guidance on contracts, governance policies, compliance structures and insurance solutions for increasingly autonomous AI systems.

Art-related disputes increasingly involve cross-border transactions, cultural heritage claims, restitution demands, authenticity disputes and competing ownership interests. In this context, arbitration is often presented as a secure, confidential and internationally enforceable mechanism for resolving complex art disputes.

This session will examine whether arbitration can genuinely serve as a safeguard in the art world, exploring its advantages, limitations and practical challenges through recent cases and developments across different jurisdictions.

As societies become dependent on interconnected autonomous systems – from satellite networks to AI-driven communications platforms to smart infrastructure – the legal frameworks governing their security have become a genuinely cross-disciplinary challenge. This panel asks: who is legally responsible when the stack fails, is attacked, or is weaponised?

Artificial intelligence is increasingly deployed across multiple jurisdictions, yet businesses must navigate an increasingly fragmented legal landscape. This session will explore the practical legal challenges arising from cross-border AI deployment, including intellectual property, copyright, data governance, privacy, contractual allocation of risk, product liability, platform regulation, and compliance with divergent AI regulatory frameworks. Rather than focusing on a single jurisdiction, the discussion will examine how multinational businesses and their advisers can manage conflicting legal requirements and develop practical global strategies.

In the current environment, with AI innovations creating an unprecedented explosion of demand for communications infrastructure, governments around the globe are considering the need for regulation of that infrastructure to provide protections in two critical areas: cybersecurity and AI safety. This panel will critically analyse the difference between approaches across jurisdictions and propose solutions for a global approach.