Particularly in the Age of AI, when the digital and operational attack surface of organizations has increased exponentially, compliance professionals are facing a stark new reality: more outside threats, greater regulatory scrutiny, and more sophisticated forms of internal risk. Add to this the fact that generative AI technologies are being deployed faster than many companies can reasonably assess, audit, or govern, and one thing becomes clear: compliance officers may one day need whistleblower counsel — not because they want to become whistleblowers, but because they were doing their job.

What if you see something, say something — and are turned away? Or worse, retaliated against?

It’s a simple fact that whistleblowers help recover more lost value than all of our investigative agencies (FBI, SEC, FDA, Treasury, etc.) put together. Whistleblowers are the immune system of any organization. And today, GenAI is introducing viruses at an unprecedented scale:

• Copyright and IP Exposure: Employees using GenAI tools have already unwittingly exposed companies to lawsuits for copyright infringement. One media company allowed contractors to use a GenAI scriptwriting tool. The output relied heavily on protected dialogue from existing TV shows — triggering a cease-and-desist and potential litigation from rights-holders.
• Security Breaches: At a major U.S. financial institution, developers used ChatGPT to troubleshoot code — pasting proprietary algorithms into a publicly accessible model. The result: a breach of internal confidentiality rules and a potential compromise of trade secrets.
• Defamation and Reputational Risk: A law firm chatbot using GenAI hallucinated and published inaccurate claims about a client’s competitors — opening the firm to defamation liability and embarrassing public apologies.
• Loss of Copyright Ownership: A marketing department generated advertising copy and website content using an AI tool — only to learn later they had no clear title to the work under U.S. copyright law, which generally excludes AI-generated content from protection unless sufficient human authorship is demonstrated.
• Bias and Discrimination: HR departments relying on GenAI for screening resumes found the system regurgitating biased patterns from its training data, leading to discriminatory practices in hiring and increasing the company’s exposure under EEOC regulations.

Now add one more problem: when compliance professionals report these risks or even raise questions about them, many are experiencing retaliation — being silenced, demoted, or terminated.

If you’re a company facing internal dissent, contact us first. A strong whistleblower case can result in multi-million dollar liability, and potentially personal liability for executives or board members who ignore clear warnings from their own compliance staff.

At DeepLaw, we provide education and counsel for:

• Employers who want to do the right thing, and reduce their legal exposure to retaliation and whistleblower claims, which can result in treble damages and awards well into the millions.
• Compliance officers and professionals in risk, audit, HR, and legal who may find themselves forced by law or conscience into the role of whistleblower.
• Agile leaders who understand that the best compliance programs encourage the right kind of dissent — the kind that catches problems before regulators or journalists do.

The rise of AI in business, and the increasing complexity of the legal and regulatory environment, is creating more potential whistleblowers in more roles than ever before. Smart organizations will prepare now. And courageous professionals deserve counsel who understands both the legal landscape and the personal and professional risks they face.