This week’s kitchen sink for October 9, 2026 (with meme from Gates Dogfish) discusses “Big Brother” tracking of lawyers at firms, Meta’s tax strategy for data centers & more!
Why “the kitchen sink”? Find out here! 🙂
The Kitchen Sink is even better when you can include a brand-new eDiscovery meme courtesy of Gates Dogfish, the meme channel dedicated to eDiscovery people and created by Aaron Patton. For more great eDiscovery memes, follow Gates Dogfish on LinkedIn here! Ben Affleck really is the AI guy! 🤣
Here is the kitchen sink for October 9 of ten-ish stories that I didn’t get to this week, with a comment from me about each:
We’re up to 2,180(!) AI hallucination cases and counting. That’s an increase of 65 cases this week. For perspective, we only had 77 cases in 2023 and 2024 combined.
The Big Brother Era has arrived: U.S. law firms start tracking their employees IP addresses.: Based on the title, I had originally thought this was a case of tracking document reviewers. It’s not. It’s about tracking who is accessing the profile pages of attorneys at the firm to see if someone is trying to hire them away. Angela Delvecchio of Project Counsel Media discusses this wild story.
Relativity CEO Says 2028 Server Deadline Stands; Will Prioritize Partnering with Frontier Labs Over Legal AI Companies: Bob Ambrogi recaps the press briefing at RelFest last week and does it so quickly and so well, I can only say: “what he said”. 😉 Disclosure: Relativity is an Educational partner and sponsor of eDiscovery Today.
How Meta uses AI data centres to avoid billions in federal taxes: They’re not just adding non-users into Muse. Meta is also claiming that its AI data centers are a giant experiment that could fail so it can tap into a tax credit intended for research and experimentation. Patrick Burke discusses on Project Counsel Media.
How Five Judges Are Working Out AI: Kristin Calve very nicely and succinctly illustrates how the five judges on the Judicial Panel at RelFest look at AI. And links to her main story with their views on whether AI prompts can be discovered.
Does marketing drive revenue? An Oxford-style tutorial for eDiscovery and legal tech: After the first true vacation I can ever remember him taking with a long break in posts during September, Rob Robinson is back! Here he explores whether marketing generates additional revenue for eDiscovery and legal technology providers once basic awareness and credibility are established. His Oxford-style tutorial is designed to promote thinking and discussion on the topic, not “end with a verdict”.
New York Court’s A.I. Regulation Did Not Violate Unrepresented Person’s Rights: As discussed by Michael Berman on the EDRM blog, it seems that the plaintiff asserted that the New York State court rules on AI imposed a duty on him to use commercial AI systems that he could not afford. The Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal without leave to amend and the District Judge agreed, finding he hadn’t presented any facts that backed up his claim.
ChatGPT’s ‘Teen Mode’ Is Unsafe for Students, Report Concludes: It makes it easy for kids to cheat on class assignments, fails to flag signs of suicidal ideation and other risky behavior, and interacts with teens as if it were a friend, concludes a review by Common Sense Media. Sigh.
Lessons from Law School: The eDiscovery Custodian Interview: Terrific blog post from Bill Hamilton, Senior Legal Skills Professor at University of Florida Levin College of Law that discusses the nuances of custodian interviews and how to visit their world to get the information you really need. The graphic says it’s “A Blog Series” – can’t wait for the next installment! 😊
MonsterCloud indictment exposes the ransom payment a victim’s own file may not record: Rob Robinson covers the story of the owner of a Florida ransomware-recovery firm, who was charged with telling clients he had proprietary decryption tools while secretly paying the criminals who locked their files. If true, that’s monstrous.
Law firms must be ready for AI-empowered clients, warns Richard Susskind: He said that that law firms risk missing the bigger picture by focusing on AI-driven productivity gains rather than preparing for a fundamental transformation in legal services and that firms must start contingency planning for artificial general intelligence (AGI) that would be capable of matching human performance at some point in the next five to 10 years.
The Surprising Side of Rogue AI: Rethinking Information → Knowledge → Wisdom, Part Two: When Ralph Losey has to break a topic into multiple parts, you know he has a lot to say! 😉 Last week, he published part one, where he referenced past articles of his from as far back as 2015 on the dangers of rogue AI. This week, he argues that more capable AI – and polished answers from it – does not automatically produce greater understanding. And, he promises to publish part three next week! 🤯
Hope you enjoyed the kitchen sink for October 9, 2026! Back next week with another edition!
So, what do you think? Which story is your favorite one? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.
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