Hunton Retail Law Resource

The FTC has settled a case with a company operating an artificial intelligence-enabled “writing assistant” service. Among the use cases Rytr LLC offered was one that would craft testimonials and reviews, allowing users to select desired tone (e.g., “formal,” “funny,” “convincing”), keywords and phrases, level of creativity (e.g., “optimal,” “high,” “max”), and the number of reviews sought. Based on this user input, Rytr’s AI service would then generate genuine-sounding, detailed reviews quickly and with little user effort.

In California, shoppers will no longer be offered plastic bags at the grocery store checkout. Under a new law, effective January 1, 2026, single-use shopping bags are banned from any point of sale. This includes bags made from plastic, paper, or other materials that are not recycled paper or certified reusable bags. However, the ban does not apply to bags used before the point of sale, such as produce bags and overwrap for fresh meat.

Last summer, on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. Although the decision did not address diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives outside of the higher education context, parallels were immediately drawn to corporate DEI programs. Over the past year, conservative activist groups have challenged a variety of corporate DEI initiatives, and although this has resulted in a mixed bag of success, companies should be thoughtful about their DEI approaches moving forward as ...