Ninth Circuit
3 articles
Can a California Court Reach the Company Behind an AI Agent?
An AI agent transacts with a Californian and something goes wrong. The agent is not a legal person, so the defendant has to be the company that deployed it—and that company may sit anywhere. After Briskin and Gelasio, the borderless-internet defense is gone in the Ninth Circuit. Here is how the express-aiming test applies when the thing doing the aiming chose its own counterparty.
The Borderless-Internet Defense Just Died in the Ninth Circuit
For twenty years, online operators beat lawsuits by insisting the internet is everywhere and nowhere. Briskin v. Shopify ended that in the Ninth Circuit, Gelasio v. Zafar showed it reaches a foreign NFT operation that took a Californian's money, and in May 2026 the Supreme Court declined an invitation to intervene. Here is what changed, how far it reaches, and the seam that is still open.
How to Sue an Offshore, Foreign, or Anonymous Defendant in California
Foreign incorporation and offshore residence no longer put an internet operator beyond California's reach. A step-by-step guide to jurisdiction, service, and anonymous defendants, from the attorney who argued Gelasio v. Zafar in the Ninth Circuit.
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