Bao Kham Chau is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law and an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
His research examines how artificial intelligence and other technical systems reshape legal institutions, regulatory frameworks, and the distribution of decision-making authority. His current projects focus on AI-assisted government decision-making, the auditability of AI systems, the regulation of software infrastructure, and the implications of generative AI for patent law and innovation. At the Center, Bao studies how consequential choices increasingly occur within technical processes—including model development, software scaffolding, information-retrieval systems, and user interfaces—that may remain largely invisible to conventional legal safeguards. His work seeks to develop regulatory and institutional approaches that account for the full technical systems through which AI affects public and private decision-making. Before entering academia, Bao worked for nearly a decade as a software engineer, including at Lyft and Cisco, practiced patent litigation, and clerked for federal district and appellate judges. He has also advised Congress on artificial intelligence and technology policy.
