As part of its inaugural ANSI Innovation Summit, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) will host a Legal Issues Forum exploring the critical theme, AI and Deregulation – Standards at a Crossroads. The in-person forum will take place on October 23 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Rockville, MD. REGISTER HERE.
This year, the Legal Issues Forum will examine how legal and regulatory frameworks are racing to keep pace with AI capabilities, while analyzing standards and conformity assessment practices amid widespread deregulatory policy shifts.
2025 Legal Issues Forum Agenda
The event will launch with a keynote address by Miranda Means, partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Means’ practice focuses on litigation and counseling in the fields of copyright, trade secret, trademark, right of publicity, art, internet, and advertising law. She represents clients on matters implicating a range of media (social media, video games, fine art, sports, music, film) and technologies (artificial intelligence, computer software, consumer electronics).
Panel One: Navigating the Emerging Frontier of Artificial Intelligence
This panel session will take a deep dive into the evolving legal and regulatory landscape and unpack emerging AI governance frameworks, intellectual property implications for AI-generated content, and the development of industry standards and conformity assessment processes.
Moderator Andrew Updegrove, partner, Gesmer Updegrove LLP, will lead the discussion with panelists Amanda L. DeFord, partner, McGuireWoods; Brian Scarpelli, senior global policy counsel, ACT: The App Association; and Dr. Fabio Thiers, ANAB representative to the AIQI Consortium. Attendees will walk away with clear insights into the risks, responsibilities, and opportunities facing standards bodies and conformity assessment organizations in the age of AI.
A networking lunch will follow the first panel.
The afternoon keynote is Cary Coglianese, Edward B. Shils professor of law and professor of political science; director, Penn Program on Regulation, University of Pennsylvania. Coglianese specializes in the study of administrative law and regulatory processes, with an emphasis on the empirical evaluation of alternative processes and strategies and the role of public participation, technology, and business-government relations in policymaking.
Panel Two: Pioneering the New Wild West: Standards and Self-Governance After Deregulation
With a sweeping range of deregulatory moves, the Trump Administration is reshaping the standards and conformity assessment arena. This session will focus on a key question that has emerged in light of change: In the absence of regulation, is there a greater need for standards and conformity assessment?
Moderator Justus Baron, research director at Northwestern University, Center on Law, Business, and Economics, will lead the panelist session featuring Emily Hammond, Glen Earl Weston research professor of Law, faculty director of Academic Sustainability Programs, GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future, George Washington University; William W. Buzbee, Edward and Carole Walter Professor of Law, Georgetown University; John Kemler, principal, regulatory and compliance risk, KPMG in the U.S.; and Amanda Winters, program director, post secondary education, National Governors Association.
Both panels will be followed by an audience Q&A.
About the ANSI Innovation Summit
The ANSI Innovation Summit: Where Standards Power Progress (formerly World Standards Week) is an annual event hosted by ANSI that brings together the Institute’s members and private- and public-sector stakeholders from across the standards and conformity assessment communities to engage on priority issues and celebrate standardization achievements.
This year’s Summit on October 21–23 will explore standards and the future of innovation. Attendees will experience dynamic panel sessions on topics from scaling AI across manufacturing systems to navigating the new regulatory landscape, innovation showcases, and valuable networking opportunities designed exclusively for in-person engagement, all at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Rockville, MD. Learn more at www.ansi.org/Summit.