For the second installment of our 2025 Predictions series, we spoke with Mishi Choudhary, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Virtru, to explore the legal and technological trends shaping the future of security. Drawing on her expertise at the intersection of law and AI technology, Mishi shares her insights on the challenges and opportunities that organizations should prepare for as we approach 2025 and beyond.
I’m tracking quite a few things for next year.
I am expecting that there will continue to be more M&A deals announced in the tech sector. We already saw a resurgence in M&A activity for the first nine months of 2024. Volume remained steady with 6,500 deals signed, while aggregate deal value surged by 39%, reaching a total of $482 billion. Larger technology vendors are constantly looking to expand their product offerings and value-add, so this one shouldn’t surprise many.
I think there will be a lot of lessons learned and used from the 2024 election. We’ll see more discussion around content moderation issues, especially in light of AI-generated misinformation picking up steam. We are already seeing an exodus to decentralized platforms like Bluesky and will see more developing.
We should also definitely expect to see more policy and regulation around AI. On a global scale, for example, the EU AI Act took effect across all 27 EU member states on August 1, 2024, and the enforcement of the majority of its provisions will commence in February, August of 2025 and 2026. This will call for a lot of preparations globally for compliance.
When DC lags, states fill in. We have already seen movement in cases and regulations around AI in states like California. We will continue to see a rise.
With the myriad of potential legal issues that accompany this technology, it is going to continue to be a controversial subject. Another area to keep an eye on is copyright law in relation to AI. There is a lot to be figured out on that front.
2024 proved to be a record year for ransomware. Within the federal government in particular, there is – and will continue to be – a focus on taking steps to enhance the nation’s cybersecurity posture. In its 2024 Report on the Cybersecurity Posture of the United States, the Office of the National Cyber Director outlined several key actions and areas of focus and we will definitely see more action on this.
Tangentially, I predict there will be more robust discussions on an omnibus federal privacy law. There is a clear trend of new state consumer privacy laws, with seven introduced in 2024, bringing the current total to 19 states. These pieces of legislation hinge on consumer data protections and real consequences for organizations that don’t have adequate safeguards on the personal information they hold. I think we have more states joining the fray in 2025, which serves as a net positive for data owners.
There are a lot of high-profile lawsuits related to AI moving quite fast, with new ones filed every day. If this trend of activity continues, and it likely will, we may see increased calls for Congress to act.
In terms of growth and development, I think there will be more momentum, but less hype overall.
I predict more talk of cooperation and resilience in cybersecurity amongst nations. The threat of cyberattacks will have to be top of mind for defense agencies, and strong collaboration with allies is essential for preventing and avoiding conflict with adversaries. We may see policy that aims to bolster this dynamic between friendly nation states.
With war in both the Middle East and Ukraine, the robustness and security of tech infrastructure will also be a hot topic of conversation. The ability to collaborate quickly and dynamically will become increasingly vital on the global stage.
Lastly, I think discussions around free speech, freedom of expression, and digital content moderation will intensify.
It is still a bit early to tell how the incoming administration will influence this dynamic, but it is certainly something that I’ll be keeping my eye on. Generally speaking, I think we will see more appeals in some of these big-name lawsuits, but also an increased appetite by regulatory bodies to take action towards elements of Big Tech, particularly where monopolies are concerned.