Seven of the leading tech companies in competition to create artificial intelligence programs including Microsoft, Google and Open AI have agreed to new commitments on safeguards, sharing and developing new technology, NPR reports. President Biden said that in addition to the safeguards, the White House is working closely with Congress to develop legislation that will address concerns about AI technology. Programs such as OpenAI, which can create text, photographs, music, speech and other media independent of human input, have faced multiple intellectual property lawsuits as well as increased scrutiny from Congress and government regulators.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced today that Vishant Shah has been hired as the county’s first data officer, reports the Commercial Appeal. As data officer, Shah will collect and analyze data from around the county's criminal justice system, including law enforcement and the courts. The information collected will be used internally to improve the efficiency of the DA's office. In addition, Shah plans to make the data public through the DA’s website.

The admissions department at the University of Michigan Law School has explicitly banned the use of ChatGPT, the popular online chatbot, and other forms of artificial intelligence tools on applications, Reuters reports today. Applicants must now certify they haven’t used AI tools in the drafting process. Michigan is the first major law school to warn that any false statements about AI usage may lead to the revocation of admission or expulsion. Other law schools are expected to announce similar bans in the coming months.

The Tennessee Bar Association welcomes Sheree Wright as she begins her service as executive director tomorrow. Wright has been active in the TBA as well as the Nashville and national legal communities throughout her career. “We are extremely excited to have Sheree join the Tennessee Bar Association as our new executive director,” former TBA President Tasha Blakney said in announcing the appointment earlier this summer. Read more about Wright.

Retired federal judge H. Bruce Guyton will join the Knoxville Police Department’s executive leadership team as the interim deputy chief of professional standards, KnoxNews reports. Guyton’s appointment comes after the abrupt resignation of Brooklyn Sawyers Belk, who held the position for four months. The Knoxville City Council next week will review and vote on a proposed agreement for Guyton to serve on a month-to-month contract basis until the next full-time deputy chief can be selected. Guyton previously served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Tennessee for nearly 20 years until retiring in 2022.

The Nashville airport board appointed by Mayor John Cooper met at the Metro Courthouse Tuesday and voted to seek outside counsel in its lawsuit against the state over who controls the Nashville International Airport and the smaller John Tune Airport, the Nashville Post reports. The board also approved a resolution authorizing Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz to choose the counsel. Metro has sued the state seeking to overturn the new airport board which took effect June 30. A three-judge state court panel will meet July 28 in Davidson County Chancery Court and is expected to rule on which version of the board is in charge until the full lawsuit is resolved. The Federal Aviation Authority has said it will recognize the old board until a court rules on Nashville’s lawsuit against the state.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently announced a partnership with the Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement agencies nationwide to crackdown on illegal telemarketing operations responsible for billions of calls to U.S. consumers. The joint state and federal “Operation Stop Scam Calls” initiative targets telemarketers, the companies that hire them, lead generators and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers, who facilitate illegal robocalls, which often originate from overseas. The effort includes law enforcement actions as well as an educational campaign.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners released a selection of sample questions for the so-called NextGen bar exam, which is set to debut in July 2026, and the reaction has been “lukewarm,” Reuters reports. Comments range from concerns that the questions are too easy to complaints that the revamped test will not be significantly different from the current one. The bar exam group began developing the new test in early 2021, partially in response to criticism that the existing exam does not reflect the actual practice of law. This fall's incoming class of law students will be the first to take the new exam when they graduate.

Vanderbilt University Law School has named Jennifer Safstrom as the new director of its Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic. Safstrom previously taught at the clinic as a visiting assistant clinical professor of law. Before joining Vanderbilt, Safstrom was the Dunn Legal Fellow at the ACLU of Virginia, where she litigated in federal and state court. Following her fellowship, she served as counsel to the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law Center and as supervising attorney and clinical teaching fellow in the school’s Civil Rights Clinic.

Rachel Bloomekatz, an Ohio litigator whose work on gun control drew Republican scrutiny, was narrowly confirmed to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Appeals Court yesterday, Bloomberg Law reports. Bloomekatz, once a clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has been a solo practitioner in Columbus since 2019. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 50-48 more than a year after being nominated. She will fill the Ohio seat being vacated by Judge Ransey Guy Cole. Read past coverage of her confirmation journey from TBA Today.