Events

Accountable AI Research Conference

Hosted by the Wharton Accountable AI Lab

February 6, 2026

The Wharton School
Philadelphia, PA 19104

The inaugural Accountable AI Research Conference will bring together scholars from law and other fields. The risks and limitations of AI have been the subject of scholarly attention for many years. Yet there has been a dramatic upsurge in AI business adoption, technical capabilities, investment, and public policy activity. This conference centers scholarship with a normative, legal, or public policy focus, and emphasizes work with the potential for impact on business practice and government actions.

— Call for Papers —

A futuristic tunnel with bright orange and red digital code flowing along its surface. The perspective and speed lines suggest high-speed data transfer or a digital highway.

We invite contributions from any field or discipline, including (but not limited to) law, ethics, public policy, and computer science.

Submissions must include an abstract of 500–1000 words, highlighting the contributions of the work, which will be reviewed by the Program Committee.

Call for paper submission deadline is October 27, 2025.

Topics of Interest

  • Regulation and Liability (regulatory design, AI safety, national AI strategies and policies, geopolitics, tort liability)
  • AI Governance (assessments, organizational governance structures, audits, reporting, and standards)
  • AI Ethics (bias and fairness, explainability and interpretability, manipulation, deepfakes, and applications for children or mental illness)
  • Economic and Market Implications (consumer protection, antitrust, job displacement, and economic inequality)
  • Data and Infrastructure (privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, energy, and human rights in the AI supply chain)

Important Dates

Call for Paper Deadline: October 27, 2025

Notification of Acceptance: December 5, 2025

Final Paper Submission: January 26, 2026

Program Committee

  • Ifeoma Ajunwa (Emory University)
  • Rebecca Crootof (University of Richmond School of Law)
  • Xin Dai (Peking University)
  • Niva Elkin-Koren (Tel Aviv University)
  • Michal Gal (University of Haifa)
  • Bhargavi Ganesh (University of Edinburgh)
  • Talia Gillis (Columbia University)
  • Ellen Goodman (Rutgers University)
  • Philipp Hacker (European New School of Digital Studies)
  • Renee Henson (University of Missouri)
  • Margaret Hu (William & Mary)
  • Margot Kaminski (University of Colorado)
  • Jonathan Mayer (Princeton University)
  • Paul Ohm (Georgetown University)
  • Frank Pasquale (Cornell University)
  • David Restrepo Amariles (HEC Paris)
  • Alan Rozenshtein (University of Minnesota)
  • Matthew Sag (Emory University)
  • Daniel Schiff (Purdue University)
  • Chinmayi Sharma (Fordham University)
  • Alicia Solow-Niederman (George Washington University)
  • Rory Van Loo (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania)
  • Heng Wang (Singapore Management University)
  • Kevin Werbach (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania)
  • Christopher Yoo (Penn Carey Law, University of Pennsylvania)
Submit Paper for Consideration

— Conference Fees* —

Academic/Faculty: $200

Academic Researchers (PhD/Postdoc/Academic Fellows): $100

Government & Nonprofit: $200

Industry Practitioners: $500

Accepted Speakers: $100

*Limited scholarship funding is available for those unable to cover the registration fee. Please contact the conference organizers at
ai-analytics@wharton.upenn.edu.

Please note: This is an academic research conference primarily intended for faculty and current researchers. We are developing opportunities for the broader Penn community, including students. Penn undergraduate, MBA, and WEMBA students who are interested are encouraged to join our mailing list to be notified when these opportunities become available. 

— Hosted by Wharton Faculty —

Kevin Werbach headshot

Kevin Werbach

Liem Sioe Liong/First Pacific Company Professor
Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics
Chairperson, Legal Studies and Business Ethics
Faculty Director, Wharton Accountable AI Lab

Rory Van Loo

Rory Van Loo

Visiting Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics

— Event Team —

A headshot of a person with brown hair and glasses, wearing a blue and white striped shirt. The background is softly blurred, suggesting an outdoor setting.

Traci Doyle

Senior Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives,
Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative

Questions? Contact Us

ai-analytics@wharton.upenn.edu

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