The Law Closed the "The AI Did It" Defence. Now You Need the Proof

From 1 January 2026, California law bars defendants from blaming an artificial intelligence (AI) system's autonomy for the harm it caused. Singapore and the European Union (EU) are pulling the same way. The excuse is gone; what remains is whether you can prove what your agent did, under whose authority, and whether a human could have stopped it.Originally published at https://mickai.co.uk/articles/the-ai-did-it-defence-is-dead. Mickai is a Sovereign Intelligence Operating System; the Open Audit Record signs every artificial intelligence action before it executes, post-quantum and offline-verifiable. 101 filed UK patent applications, Mickai LTD (Companies House 17166618).

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Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-06-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20674262
Primary Topic
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The Law Closed the "The AI Did It" Defence. Now You Need the Proof

Micky Irons
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
article

The Law Closed the "The AI Did It" Defence. Now You Need the Proof

Micky Irons
article en

Abstract

From 1 January 2026, California law bars defendants from blaming an artificial intelligence (AI) system's autonomy for the harm it caused. Singapore and the European Union (EU) are pulling the same way. The excuse is gone; what remains is whether you can prove what your agent did, under whose authority, and whether a human could have stopped it.Originally published at https://mickai.co.uk/articles/the-ai-did-it-defence-is-dead. Mickai is a Sovereign Intelligence Operating System; the Open Audit Record signs every artificial intelligence action before it executes, post-quantum and offline-verifiable. 101 filed UK patent applications, Mickai LTD (Companies House 17166618).

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Maryland Institute College of Art (US)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
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