---
title: "Failure to warn"
description: "In product liability, a defect in instructions or warnings about non-obvious dangers."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/failure-to-warn
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Failure to warn

In product liability, a defect in instructions or warnings about non-obvious dangers [1]. For AI: undisclosed limitations or out-of-scope uses, which is why model cards and instructions for use are versioned with each release.

- Developed in: [ch. 20, Duty to warn after updates](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/existing-law#duty-to-warn-after-updates)
- Chapters: [ch. 20, Existing Law](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/existing-law)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-failure-to-warn

## Sources

[1] "Products liability" (design, manufacturing and marketing defects, incl. failure to warn; consumer-expectation and risk-utility tests). Legal Information Institute, Wex. 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/products_liability (verified: secondary)