Artificial Intelligence

Bowmans is adept at advising clients on the legal, regulatory and strategic implications of artificial intelligence (AI). 

We provide an end-to-end AI legal offering to support our clients at any stage of their AI journeys. 

With experience in regulatory, transactional and technology, data protection, IP, competition and employment law, our specialists deliver practical, market aligned legal advice. 

Our expertise ranges from AI strategy and risk management to governance and policy design through to procurement, contracting, product development, workplace deployment, regulatory engagement, implementation, dispute resolution and ongoing compliance. 

We advise both organisations that are developing AI enabled products and platforms and those acquiring, implementing or adapting third party and open-source AI tools. Our client base extends to government bodies and non-government organisations. 

The use of AI raises complex legal considerations, including fundamental rights, consumer protection, employment, vendor and supply chain risks, licensing models, data usage rights, intellectual property (IP), liability, competition and regulatory compliance. At the same time, organisations that develop or commercialise AI functionality face heightened risks around AI governance, training data, model transparency, IP rights, content generation and algorithmic bias. 

Our strategic insight and actionable legal solutions enable innovation and the ethical implementation of AI while managing reputational, contractual and compliance risks. 

Specialist Services

Recent signature matters include acting for/ advising:

AI strategy, governance and responsible use  

• The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) on the development of an AI policy for use by non-government organisations taking account of ethical use of AI and data, human rights and international best practices. 
• Several listed companies on their AI policies, taking the new AI provisions in King Code V into account. 
• A listed company in the paper and forestry sector on its global AI policy. 
• A major South African mining company, on the drafting and implementation of a company-wide policy regulating the use of generative AI tools. 
• Various clients on the risks of using generative AI and recommended contractual, procedural and governance mitigations. 
• Various stakeholders within the technology sector and legal profession on legal risk management when developing and using AI systems. 
• A global online marketplace on the liability risks of an AI chatbot. 
• Various clients on risks of using generative AI and the recommended contractual, procedural and governance mitigations. 

AI implementation, procurement and legal tech   

• A global multinational technology company on various AI-related product roll outs, data issues, IP issues and risk mitigation. 
• An e-hailing service on the use of AI to provide user-support services in Kenya and the use of AI in seven African jurisdictions. 
• A global online marketplace on the use of AI in marketing materials in Kenya. 
• A major South African retailer on the legal aspects of AI-driven data ecosystem projects. 
• An international retailer on the introduction of a website with AI functionality in South Africa. 
• On risks and recommendations for the procurement of generative AI by a listed company in the paper and forestry sector. 
• An international automaker on the South African elements of the worldwide roll out of an AI-powered feature.  
• A leading listed technology company on the provision of its AI platform and services to a major South African bank for purposes of conducting regulatory compliance (including KYC and funds transfer compliance). 

AI related contracts 

• A leading South African bank on its template AI provisions for both the procurement and provision of AI solutions. 
• Isazi Consulting, a consulting services provider using machine learning and AI to provide data mapping and insights to clients, on its template non-disclosure agreement.   
• Spookfish (now Kenai) on the terms and conditions for use of its AI-driven facial recognition visitor management application. 

Regulatory, public policy and sectoral advice  

• A global technology company on various issues arising out of AI regulation in Africa. 
• Bird & Bird LLP on the topic of ‘Children in the Digital World’. This project was a global comparative review showcasing collective experience and capabilities across a range of areas connected to children as users of digital and online services. 
• creditAIs on the financial regulatory aspects of its AI insurance produce including input on product development and data protection compliance. CreditAIs uses machine learning to credit score people who do not fit the traditional models, targeting financial inclusion.   

Data, cybersecurity, IP and content  

• The Open Markets Institute on the application of copyright law to generative AI in South Africa. 
• A global online marketplace on requirements under consumer protection, data protection, IP and copyright, and anti-discrimination laws relating to the use of AI-generated synthetic human images in advertising; legal risks associated with the use of AI tools that generate such images, including risks linked to the datasets used to train the models; and proposed steps to mitigate the risks. 
• An international online booking platform on the data protection, consumer protection, IP and liability issues arising out of the proposed use of a new AI tool in South Africa. 
• A global and technology company on the copyright implications, and corresponding legal risks, of conducting AI training workflows in South Africa. Our work included considering the legal implications of machine learning, AI model training, tokenised or numerically encoded representations of copyrighted texts and copies of copyrighted text made in random-access memory or cache during computational processing as the law currently stands and in light of proposed amendments set out in the Copyright Amendment Bill, 2017. 
• A global technology company’s subsidiary in East Africa on localising resources for its customers, focusing on compliance with applicable data protection and procurement regulations. This work extended to coordinating the localisation of white papers in Egypt. 
• A multinational mining company on the lawful processing of personal data in the context of a comprehensive insider threat programme involving the deployment of technology solutions and AI enabled behavioural analytics to analyse personal and sensitive personal data ingested in a data lake. 

Competition 

• A global technology company on pricing practices of its cloud service vis-à-vis other cloud service providers and smaller cloud service providers. We advised on the South African aspects of the investigation, which is running in parallel to investigations by the EU and the CMA. The future, not only of cloud computing, but other services like AI and the significant investments made/ required will be tested in this case. The question will be whether ‘first mover’ firms can discriminate between so-called hyperscalers with similar capabilities as itself and smaller providers.  

M&A and transaction support   

• A global biotechnology leader, BioNTech SE, on the South African component of its acquisition of additional shares in InstaDeep Ltd, a world-renowned leader in the field of AI and machine learning. 
• Capgemini S.E. on its acquisition of the entire issued ordinary share capital of WNS Holdings Ltd (WNS) for USD 3.3 billion pursuant to a scheme of arrangement. WNS combines deep domain expertise with talent, technology, and AI to co-create innovative solutions for over 600 clients across various industries. 
• TransUnion Africa (Pty) Ltd, a global consumer credit reporting agency, on the acquisition of a minority stake in Omnisient, a South Africa-founded fintech operating internationally that offers a privacy-preserving data collaboration and advanced analytics platform that enables secure, regulatory-compliant sharing and analysis of high-value consumer data using advanced cryptography and AI.  
• A leading South African bank on its arrangements with an impact investment fund to establish and operate a SPV through which a behavioural banking enabling platform will be developed, maintained, hosted, operated and made available to third parties. 
• A global technology company on its third equity equivalent investment programme with the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. This programme is a ZAR 1.32 billion, 10-year investment aimed at developing black-owned small, micro, and medium enterprises in both tech and non-tech sectors.  

AI-related litigation and dispute resolution  

• The Nelson Mandela Foundation on recourse for third parties’ unauthorised use of AI-generated Nelson Mandela deepfakes. 

Training and capability building 

• As partner to a global technology company, in holding multi stakeholder roundtables on responsible AI use. 
• Various stakeholders across the legal and tech sectors, delivering training and giving presentations on managing AI legal risk. 

Specialist Services