1. GitHub’s chief legal officer, Shelley McKinley, is currently involved in legal wrangles around GitHub’s Copilot pair-programmer and the passing of the EU AI Act.
2. The EU AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive AI law and aims to govern AI applications based on their perceived risks, with specific rules and stipulations depending on the application and use-case.
3. GitHub has been vocal in pushing for exemptions for open source software developers in the EU AI Act regulations to prevent potential legal liability issues and ensure continued developer collaboration and innovation.
GitHub’s chief legal officer, Shelley McKinley, is facing legal challenges related to Copilot pair-programmer and the European Parliament’s approval of the AI Act. The EU AI Act introduces regulations to govern AI applications based on perceived risks, with different rules depending on the application. GitHub, acquired by Microsoft, is particularly concerned about potential legal liabilities for open source software developers under the new regulations.
McKinley’s role at GitHub is multidisciplinary, covering legal matters, accessibility, environmental sustainability, and trust and safety. She is heavily involved with AI-related issues, including policy discussions, product development, and platform implementation. GitHub, being a platform for collaborative software development, relies heavily on open source development, making McKinley’s role central in navigating the implications of the AI regulations on the open source community.
One main point of contention for GitHub has been ensuring exemptions within the AI Act for developers working on open source general purpose AI technology to prevent stifling innovation. The company’s lobbying efforts have influenced the text of the AI Act to provide some exemptions for open source AI models, although challenges remain in determining high-risk AI systems and liability allocation.
The introduction of GitHub’s AI-enabled Copilot tool has stirred controversy within the developer community, with concerns about code attribution and proprietary use of open source contributions. Efforts to address these concerns include features like duplication detection and code referencing to ensure compliance with licensing requirements. As regulations around AI evolve, McKinley emphasizes the importance of involving developers and open source contributors in shaping policy discussions.