Daniel Achterberg

Profile

Daniel Achterberg is a partner in the San Francisco office of Corvane Ryle LLP and Global Chair of the firm's Artificial Intelligence Practice. He advises developers, deployers and investors on the commercial, regulatory and intellectual property questions that arise when AI moves from research into products.

Daniel's work spans technology transactions, AI licensing and data partnerships, and the governance programs that boards and general counsel now expect. He helps clients negotiate model and compute agreements, allocate liability for automated decisions, and prepare for the EU AI Act and emerging US state requirements.

He leads the firm's cross-office AI working group and speaks regularly on AI governance for directors and technology leaders.

Experience

Daniel's representative matters include the following, many of which are confidential and described in general terms.

• Advised Kestrel Systems, an AI chip designer, on a multi-year compute supply and capacity reservation agreement with a hyperscale cloud provider.
• Represented Kestrel Systems in the negotiation of a strategic licensing arrangement for its inference accelerator software stack with a global original equipment manufacturer.
• Advised Arvelo Health on the commercial terms and data governance framework for a clinical decision-support tool built on a third-party foundation model.
• Counseled Quillon Payments on the contracting and liability structure for an AI-driven fraud detection service offered to bank partners in the United States and Europe.
• Advised Halvern Retail Group on its enterprise agreement with a large language model provider, including training restrictions, indemnities and output ownership.
• Led the AI diligence workstream for Northwall Capital on its acquisition of a data analytics platform, assessing training data provenance and model risk.
• Advised a NYSE-listed technology company on the design of an enterprise AI governance program, including a risk-tiering methodology and board reporting protocol.
• Represented a venture-backed generative AI developer in a US$300 million growth financing, including intellectual property and open-weight licensing matters.
• Advised a global software company on its general-purpose AI model obligations under the EU AI Act and the voluntary code of practice.
• Counseled Meridian Arc Therapeutics on a collaboration with an AI drug discovery company covering data rights, jointly developed models and publication.
• Advised Tidewater Logistics on the procurement and deployment of AI route-optimization and warehouse automation systems across three continents.
• Represented a financial services group in responding to regulatory inquiries regarding automated decision-making in consumer credit.
• Advised a media company on licensing terms and opt-out mechanisms for the use of its archive in AI model training.
• Counseled a consumer products group on the contractual and consumer protection issues raised by deploying AI shopping agents.

Qualifications

Bar admissions

• State Bar of California
• State Bar of New York
• US District Court for the Northern District of California
• US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Education

• JD, Stanford Law School
• BS, Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University