Who would have thought at the beginning of 2023 that generative AI was going to come crashing into our lives in the way that it did last year? Our 2023 Annual Review certainly didn't predict that, though to be fair our coverage of the EU AI Act was ahead of most of the market. This year, artificial intelligence will continue to be a major theme in the technology, media and communications (TMC) sector and our 2024 Annual Review reflects that. But there are plenty of other exciting developments to keep us all on our toes.

In the AI space, there has been a growing understanding of the intellectual property, bias and accuracy risks associated with generative AI. However, wider AI issues are also arising, not least in the areas of sector-specific regulation, consumer protection, open-source software and the impact on contracts and standard industry positions. Different industries, including media, entertainment, sports and telecoms are facing distinct challenges as a result of this new technology. Litigators are gearing up for different waves of AI-related disputes.

The explosion of interest in AI has also been one factor underpinning the comparative resilience of the TMC M&A market globally – particularly in the mid-market. This has added to already strong levels of deal activity in areas such as managed services and IT services, SaaS (software as a service), unified comms and cybersecurity – areas that we expect to remain hot in 2024. However, corrections in valuation multiples in many territories have made TMC M&A more of a buyer's market than in previous years. Increased regulatory burdens under foreign direct investment, foreign subsidies and merger control regulations have also led to increased complexity and uncertainty for many tech transactions.