China
China's Supreme People's Court released its Opinion on the Adjudication of Disputes Involving Artificial Intelligence on 7 September. Its 24 provisions, arranged in five parts, address the use of AI in infringements of personality and personal-information rights, liability for generated content and AI products, automated-driving incidents, intellectual property, open-source software, data use and the examination of evidence. The document provides guidance for courts hearing related civil disputes.
For personality rights, the opinion states that, unless the law provides otherwise, courts should uphold claims involving infringements of name or portrait rights when a recognisable virtual representation is made from a person's name or likeness and used or published without consent. Using a natural person's voice as training material without consent to produce an identifiable synthetic voice is also brought within the protection of voice rights. Manipulating an identifiable digital representation or synthetic voice to engage in improper conduct or make false statements that lower a person's social standing is to be treated as an infringement of reputation. Close relatives may seek civil liability under the Civil Code when an unauthorised digital representation of a deceased person harms the deceased person's name, likeness or reputation.
The opinion also defines responsibilities for users and providers of generative AI services. A user who deliberately induces a system to generate infringing material through prompts and causes harm is to bear liability. If a provider receives a notice containing preliminary evidence of infringement and the right holder's verified identity but does not promptly stop generating the material or block the relevant instructions, it may be held responsible for the resulting loss. For model training, processing personal information that a person has made public, or that has otherwise been lawfully made public, will generally not be treated as an infringement when it remains within a reasonable scope and the person has not expressly objected. Consent is still required under law where the processing has a significant effect on personal rights and interests.
On intellectual property, an AI developer raising a non-infringement defence may be required to provide evidence about training-data sources, the training process and the model's operation. For code modules supplied free and open source with their functions and security risks disclosed, a court may find the original developer or provider not liable when another person's use of the module causes an infringement, after considering the licence, compliance measures and disclosure. The Court said in an accompanying media briefing that substantial disagreement remains over whether AI-generated content can attract copyright and how to characterise the unauthorised use of works for large-model training. The opinion does not establish uniform rules on those two questions.
Australia
The Therapeutic Goods Administration announced changes to the Personal Importation Scheme on 8 September. The scheme permits individuals, subject to specified conditions, to import therapeutic goods that are not entered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods for their own use or that of immediate family members. The goods cannot be resold, supplied or given to anyone else.
Imported products must now remain in their original packaging where possible, or in packaging that permits accurate identification. Available dispensing labels and product information should also be retained. Products ordered online may not be released if their labels are not intact, even where the purchaser did not control the packaging. The changes also clarify which therapeutic goods are covered, who counts as an immediate family member and what evidence is required when prescription-only medicines are brought into Australia.
For a medicine classified as prescription-only in Australia, the importer must already hold a valid Australian prescription or written authority at the time of importation. The document must be issued by an Australian-registered medical practitioner and include the practitioner's identifying and contact details, prescriber number and signature. It must match the quantity imported and specify the patient, medicine, dosage form, strength, quantity and directions for use. The TGA states that an authority obtained after goods have been held does not retrospectively satisfy the scheme. Electronic prescriptions are not currently accepted as valid written authority because they often omit required information and the regulator cannot access the clinical systems needed to verify them.
The scheme continues to limit a single import to no more than three months' supply and total imports to no more than 15 months' supply in any 12-month period. Counterfeit therapeutic goods cannot be imported under the scheme in any circumstances. Non-compliant goods may be seized or destroyed, leaving the importer without the products or a refund, and unlawful importation may also result in fines or civil or criminal proceedings.
United States
The US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service published final regulations for the car-loan interest deduction in the Federal Register on 8 September. The regulations take effect on 9 November 2026. They implement a deduction created by the 2025 tax legislation for interest on qualifying passenger-vehicle loans and set information-reporting duties for lenders and other interest recipients.
The deduction applies to debt incurred after 31 December 2024 to purchase a qualifying passenger vehicle and secured by a first lien on that vehicle. The taxpayer must buy the vehicle for personal use, its original use must begin with that taxpayer, and final assembly must occur in the United States. The final regulations define personal use by reference to the taxpayer's expectation, when the debt is incurred, that the taxpayer, a spouse or another specified relative will use the vehicle personally for more than half of the period of ownership. Eligible taxpayers may claim the deduction whether they itemise deductions or take the standard deduction.
The annual limit is US$10,000 per tax return, regardless of filing status. The amount is reduced by US$200 for every US$1,000, or part of US$1,000, by which modified adjusted gross income exceeds US$100,000, or US$200,000 for a married couple filing jointly. The deduction applies for taxable years beginning after 2024 and before 2029. Sales tax, vehicle-related fees, service plans and extended warranties that are customarily financed and directly connected with the vehicle purchase may be included in the relevant debt. Unrelated goods or services and lease financing are excluded.
A business that receives at least US$600 in interest from an individual on a specified passenger-vehicle loan during a calendar year must file an information return with the IRS and give a statement to the payor of record. The final regulations specify the information lenders must report and require the statement to tell the payor that the interest shown may not all be deductible.
Editorial framework: This briefing uses Sustenesis as an editorial framework for selecting facts, organising relationships and structuring information, with attention to differences and constraints in rules, responsibilities, resources, risks and social relations. Sustenesis functions here as a method of organisation rather than a position or commentary; the body remains limited to verifiable facts.
Sources
Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, “Supreme People's Court releases the Opinion on the Adjudication of Disputes Involving Artificial Intelligence”
https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/511101.html
Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, “Court officials answer questions on the Opinion on the Adjudication of Disputes Involving Artificial Intelligence”
https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/511111.html
Xinhua News Agency, “Supreme People's Court sets adjudication rules for cases involving AI face- and voice-synthesis”
https://www.xinhuanet.com/20260907/c153804af2f04cb797ca19dec6729038/c.html
Therapeutic Goods Administration, “New packaging rules for personal imports”
https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/new-packaging-rules-personal-imports
Therapeutic Goods Administration, “Personal Importation Scheme”
https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/access-pathways/personal-importation-scheme
Federal Register, “Car Loan Interest Deduction”
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/08/2026-18219/car-loan-interest-deduction
Internal Revenue Service, “Treasury, IRS provide guidance on the new deduction for car loan interest under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill”
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-provide-guidance-on-the-new-deduction-for-car-loan-interest-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill
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