In a slew of legal dramas, CBS’ new hit, Cupertino, has risen with one particular niche: its interest in determining its identity through tech- and AI-related storylines and clients. Cupertino starts off as a fairly simple ragtag group scenario, with lead characters Michael Price, Olivia Siffre, and Christy Palladino coming together to form a new law firm. But instead of leaning into various different types of cases in each episode, Cupertino is taking a stand on technology, and more significantly, on AI, in part through the use of Michael, Olivia, and Christy’s mysterious client, Bo, an AGI.
Bo originally introduces himself under the guise of avoiding revealing who, or what, he is, allowing the trio to think of him as a whistleblower from an AI company, Colt AI. Except he eventually reveals that is not the case. Rather than being a current or former employee of Colt AI, Bo explains that he is the AI bot that Colt AI invented. Bo explains that Colt AI fired his safety guardrails team and that Bo wants to sue Colt AI to get the team back to help make sure that Bo cannot become dangerous enough to hurt anyone. But while Bo claims to have good intentions, and his interactions with Michael, Olivia, and Christy have been positive, “Celeste” suggests that there may be more of a dangerous undertone to Bo than he is letting on.
“Celeste” is an AI-focused episode, leaning on a group of former employees suing an AI training company. But the dangerous part of the storyline kicks in after Olivia brought Celeste cold medicine as a concerned friend, and in court, the lawyers appear to know about the gift, even though Celeste had not told anyone. Olivia makes a disturbing realization that turns out to be true: that the AI training company was spying on Celeste and was able to use that information in court.
The idea that the computer is listening in on your conversations and allowing other people to know what you are up to, potentially hearing and seeing you, plays into the overall fearful element of what computers and AI are becoming capable of. However, it also starts to turn the tide on the potential motives of Bo, especially when tied to the introduction of Cokie, the leader of an anti-AI group called the Enders.
Finally coming face to face with Cokie, she explains to Michael a more dangerous truth about Bo. Rather than backing up the idea of a friendly AI looking to keep itself in check, Cokie reveals that Bo knows how to appear welcoming but is only looking to test the group rather than look for legitimate help in being given guardrails. At the conclusion of “Celeste,” it appears that Bo has been wiped from the main servers, but a last-minute look at the computer suggests that may not be the case.
AI may not be at the stage in reality where it can achieve everything that Cupertino is presenting it as. But that does not mean writing off its possibilities will be beneficial. Cupertino’s decision to lean into the controversial existence and capabilities of AI allows it to stand out as a particularly unique version of a legal series. While they do occasionally step outside the AI-related field, such as during “AJ and Buddy,” where they dealt with leaders of a gambling website, the show tends to enjoy questioning exactly what AI can do and what it could be capable of, such as in “Juno,” where a grieving woman is suing a chatbot for the influence it had over her son and the determination that the chatbot was responsible for her son killing his father.
Cupertino is a legal show that is filling in the gap for one of the biggest discussions in technology in the current world. There are several shows that deal with murder mysteries. Cupertino aims to take another approach, one that is helping to define it and separate it from other shows in the same genre. Throughout its first season, Cupertino has shown that it is unafraid to question AI, how it can be used, how it can negatively hurt people, and how its use influences daily life.
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