The Oxford Handbook of the Foundations and Regulation of Generative AI

Generative AI technology holds immense transformative potential, with applications spanning from text generation to image creation and scientific discovery. Yet, its rapid development and adoption have introduced significant legal and ethical concerns, such as potential cybersecurity risks, misinformation, unsustainability, and algorithmic discrimination. The Oxford Handbook of the Foundations and Regulation of Generative AI offers theoretical insights and practical recommendations for ensuring the responsible development and application of this emerging technology.

Edited and written by leading scholars in law, AI ethics, economics, and computer science, this Handbook brings together a global team of experts to examine the foundational principles and regulatory challenges posed by generative AI systems. The Handbook introduces core technical concepts-including explainable AI (XAI), agentic AI safety, and prompting-and discusses pressing legal and ethical concerns such as AI bias, consumer protection, platform and worker rights, data protection, copyright, and liability for AI-generated speech. The volume also considers how generative AI is transforming industries, from business and legal practice to healthcare, finance, and cybersecurity. Finally, it concludes with in-depth analyses of AI regulation in various jurisdictions, including the EU, US, China, Brazil, India, and Australia.

Interdisciplinary in scope and global in coverage, this Handbook is an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand and navigate the evolving landscape of generative AI. It provides an accessible entry point for students, while offering the depth and rigor needed to inform practice, policy, and advanced research.

Philipp Hacker, Chair for Law and Ethics of the Digital Society, European New School of Digital Studies, European University Viadrina,Andreas Engel, Senior Research Fellow, Heidelberg University,Sarah Hammer, Executive Director of the Wharton School of Business and Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania,Brent Mittelstadt, Professor of Data Ethics and Policy, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

Prof. Dr. Philipp Hacker, LLM (Yale), holds the Research Chair for Law and Ethics of the Digital Society at the European New School of Digital Studies (ENS) at European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). His research focuses on the regulation of digital technologies, particularly concerning artificial intelligence. For his work, he received several academic prizes, such as the 2020 Science Award of the German Foundation for Law and Computer Science. He regularly advises national and EU legislators, regulatory agencies, and industry. Philipp co-founded and co-leads the International Expert Consortium on the Regulation, Economics, and Computer Science of AI (RECSAI).

Dr. Andreas Engel, LLM (Yale), is a Senior Research Fellow at University of Heidelberg and a founding member of the International Expert Consortium on the Regulation, Economics, and Computer Science of AI (RECSAI), as well as a member of the board of trustees of the Deutsche Stiftung für Recht und Informatik (German Foundation for Law and Computer Science). He studied law in Munich, Oxford and at the Yale School, clerked at the German Federal Constitutional Court, and wrote his doctoral thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. Andreas researches the challenges of digitalisation, primarily from a private law perspective, and with a particular focus on (private) international law, IP law, and cybersecurity law.

Professor Sarah Hammer is Executive Director at the Wharton School, Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and CEO of Wharton Cypher Accelerator. She is Academic Director of the Penn Law Executive Program on AI and is featured in Penn Law's massive open online courses on AI and digital assets. Hammer is co-chair of the International Expert Consortium on Regulation, Economics, and Computer Science of AI (RECSAI) and is a member of the American Law Institute Consultative Group on Civil Liability for AI. From 2018 through 2023, she served on the oversight board for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the specialized UN agency that sets global standards for ICT and leads AI for Good.

Professor Brent Mittelstadt is a professor of Data Ethics and Policy at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, where he founded the Governance of Emerging Technologies research programme, and a Principal Investigator at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin, Germany. Prof. Mittelstadt is the author of highly cited foundational works addressing the ethics of algorithms, AI, and Big Data; truth and accuracy in large language models; fairness, accountability, and transparency in machine learning; data protection and nondiscrimination law; group privacy; and ethical auditing of automated systems. His work in these areas has featured in policy proposals and guidelines from the European Commission, European Parliament, United Nations, and US White House, as well as products from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.