AI AND TRADE SECRETS: PROTECTING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION IN THE ERA OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOGIES

The collision between artificial intelligence and trade secret law is not a future problem. It is happening now, in boardrooms, courtrooms, and the daily workflows of engineers who paste proprietary code into chatbots without a second thought. This article argues that existing legal frameworks, while structurally sound, are straining under pressures their drafters could not have anticipated. Drawing on the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and the EU Trade Secrets Directive, the analysis maps where doctrine holds, where it bends, and where it is starting to break. Landmark cases are examined alongside regulatory developments and the emerging forensic challenges that make AI-related misappropriation claims uniquely difficult to prove. The article concludes with practical guidance for counsel navigating this terrain today, not waiting for the law to catch up.