Securities Litigation

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SEC officials have for months been signaling their concerns about companies overstating their AI credentials, a phenomenon that the officials and others have called “AI washing.” As set out and partially transcribed in a September 5, 2024, TheCorporateCounsel.net post (here), SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently recorded a video in which he reiterated concerns about public company AI-related disclosures and the need for companies to match AI-related claims to their actual capabilities. Nor are concerns about companies’ AI-related disclosures limited to the SEC; the tech community is also concerned about companies that overhype their AI qualifications, as illustrated in a September 4, 2024 TechBrew post (here).  

Another audience is also monitoring public companies’ AI-related disclosures – the class action plaintiffs’ lawyers. The number of securities class action lawsuits based on allegedly misleading statements concerning AI continues to grow. In the latest example, on September 4, 2024, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against software development platform GitLab alleging that the company misled investors by overstating the company’s ability to develop AI software features that would increase market demand for the company’s software development platform. A copy of the complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Software Development Platform Hit with AI-Related Securities Suit

Here we are, well into the fifth year since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., and yet coronavirus-related securities lawsuits are still being filed. In the latest example, earlier this week plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a securities class action lawsuit against the electronics manufacturing firm Methode Electronics based in part on allegations concerning problems allegedly caused by the company’s loss of key personnel during the pandemic. A copy of the August 26, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading COVID-Related Securities Suit Filed Against Electronic Components Company

One of the more interesting recent litigation phenomena is that even though we are now well into the fifth year since the initial COVID outbreak in the U.S., COVID-related securities lawsuits continue to be filed. Indeed, in its recent survey of first half 2024 securities lawsuit filings, NERA noted COVID-related filings as one of the factors contributing to the volume of securities suit filing in the year’s first half, and indeed noted that COVID-related suit filings YTD were on pace to exceed the number COVID-related suit filings during the full year 2023. In the latest example of these securities suit filing trends, earlier this week, a plaintiff shareholder filed a COVID-related suit against cloud computing products company Extreme Networks, based on allegations that the company had misrepresented the long-term effects of COVID-related supply chain disruption on the company’s sales backlog. A copy of the August 13, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Extreme Networks Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

When SEC Chair Gary Gensler expressed concerns last December about the possibility of reporting companies engaging in “AI-washing,” he was referring company disclosures that overstate or mislead investors as to their true AI capabilities or the extent to which the company has incorporated AI into their operations or products. Since the time of those remarks, there have in fact been several AI-washing based SEC enforcement actions (as discussed, for example, here), and even several securities class action lawsuits based on AI washing allegations (for example, here). Late last week, In the latest example of an AI- washing-based securities class action lawsuit, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Israeli-based cosmetics internet platform Oddity Tech Ltd., based on allegations that the company overstated the extent to which AI processes and tools enhanced its delivery of consumer services. A copy of the July 19, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Cosmetics Platform Hit with AI-Washing-Related Securities Suit

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has for months been the hot story in the securities marketplace, with share prices of companies with AI connections soaring. In a new lawsuit with several unusual twists, short sellers have filed a securities class action lawsuit company against electronic component power company Vicor Corporation, alleging that the company misleadingly suggested that it had entered a substantial contract with an existing customer for delivery in an AI power platform. The company’s share price surged, and the short sellers were forced to cover their positions at a significant loss. When the company allegedly later tried to walk back the story about the supposed significant customer contract, its share price plunged. The claimants seek to recover damages on behalf of similarly situated short sellers. A copy of the plaintiffs’ July 11, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Short Sellers File AI-Related Securities Suit Against Electronic Power Company

As AI becomes an ever-more present component of many companies’ strategies and operations, one concern is the extent to which this technological shift could affect companies’ litigation risk exposures. One risk companies may face is that in seeking to promote their adoption of AI strategies, companies may be susceptible to allegations that they overstated their AI capabilities or the extent to which the strategies will actually improve results.Continue Reading Robotic Automation Company Hit With AI-Related Securities Suit

Napa Valley

The D&O Diary was on assignment last week in Napa Valley in California. Although I have visited Napa several times in the past, it has been a while since I have been there. I had forgotten what a beautiful place it is and how much fun it is to visit.

My primary purpose…

Here at The D&O Diary, our job is to watch for emerging trends in corporate and securities litigation. There is plenty to watch. Because we are always so attentive to what is new, it sometimes surprises us when a development appears that reflects an old or even seemingly played-out trend. That was our reaction to seeing the new COVID-related complaint filed this week against the health Insurer Humana, in which the plaintiff alleges that the company misled investors about the company’s rising costs associated with increased patient utilization rates due to post-pandemic pent-up demand. It is, in fact, a little surprising that even now, more than four years after the coronavirus first emerged in the U.S., COVID-related lawsuits are still being filed. A copy of the Humana complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Health Insurer Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

It was roughly this same time a year ago when the banking industry in the U.S. was going through a series of serious events. Within the space of a few weeks during March through May last year, three of the five largest bank failures in U.S. history occurred. At the outset, a wider banking crisis was feared, but the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC acted forcefully, in effect backstopping all deposits, and the three bank failures did not lead to a systemic event. But while the immediate crisis was averted, many of the underlying problems – interest rate pressure, stress in the commercial real estate sector – continue, and now, a year later, the banking industry remains under stress. Problems have continued to emerge, and signs are that challenges in the industry will continue.Continue Reading Thinking About Banks One Year After Last Year’s Crisis Events