The Initial Report

United States v. Heppner

Child Safety and Chatbots; Mixed Bag on AI Discovery Rulings
by Grant Morgan

World leaders did not resolve bigger fights over AI at this week’s G7 summit in France. But in an official statement, they did agree on one smaller point: children using AI chatbots is its own safety issue, not just another version of social media. The news comes as a recent survey suggests nearly three-quarters of U.S. teens have used AI companions (chatbots used like a friend, coach, or romantic partner, et al.), and as the FTC asks major AI companies how their tools affect young people.

AI and Discovery

Civil courts are starting to ask more detailed questions about AI. These include: 1) if and when privilege applies when a party uses AI to prepare their case; and 2) whether uploading case materials to popular AI tools violates discovery-handling rules. For prosecutors, these early disputes are useful because they show where AI is already creating pressure on ordinary case-material controls. The chart below collects six early civil rulings already on the board.

Feb. 10

Warner v. Gilbarco
E.D. Mich.
Defendants sought a pro se plaintiff’s AI-use materials; the court treated them as protected litigation work product. Order (PDF).

Mar. 25

Jeffries v. Harcros Chemicals
D. Kan.
Parties fought over whether discovery materials could go into public AI tools; the court barred that use but allowed secure, closed AI tools. Order (PDF).

Mar. 30

Morgan v. V2X
D. Colo.
The court said AI interactions can be work product, but ordered the plaintiff to identify any AI platform used with confidential material. Order (PDF).

Apr. 22

Tym v. Cerno
D.N.M.
The court adopted Morgan and said generative AI interactions used to prepare filings or hearings were shielded as work product. Order (PDF).

June 3

Tate Group v. Legacy / Reynolds
Texas Bus. Ct.
The court protected most ChatGPT conversations, but ordered the plaintiff to identify discovery materials shared with ChatGPT. Minute entry (PDF).

June 4

Assini v. Hayward
N.Y. Sup. Ct.
The court quashed a subpoena seeking OpenAI account records tied to a pro se litigant’s case preparation. Order (PDF).

Chart: The Initial Report. Related: An early criminal ruling involving Claude and privilege, United States v. Heppner, falls outside this civil-court set; the ruling is here, and we covered it in Issue 3.

“Are we realizing how big this might be?”

Tejal Patwardhan, OpenAI, on how quickly
AI systems are moving into real workplace tasks.

299

Improper searches of San Francisco’s Flock license
plate-reader data found in a police compliance audit.

San Francisco shut off a regional fusion center’s access to the city’s Flock camera data following improper outside-agency searches. (San Francisco Chronicle)

3D printers sold in New York could eventually have to block gun-part print jobs under a first-of-its-kind law. (AP)

Stockton, California, a city of about 325,000 east of San Francisco, has approved a multimillion-dollar plan to send drones to some 911 calls before officers arrive. (Stocktonia)

China is making a broad policy push to make AI a bigger part of what Chinese consumers use and buy, including humanoid robots. (Reuters)

The government of Estonia will look more closely at how to give AI agents digital identities. (Bloomberg)

An AI image-generation company is moving into medical scanners, while the company behind Snapchat is making AI-powered smart glasses. (The Verge / BBC)

About Us

The Initial Report is written and edited by Grant Morgan, a former prosecutor who tried high-level felonies and assisted in complex investigations before turning his attention to how artificial intelligence is reshaping the day-to-day work of American prosecutors. The Initial Report tracks the tools, court rulings, and enforcement actions shaping that work.

The Initial Report is in limited release, with new editions publishing Tuesdays and Fridays at 6:00 a.m. To preserve access, send your name and agency to [email protected]. It is the inaugural publication from VoraSync Labs.

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