September 2025

AI for America

Sen Mark Kelly (D-AZ) released AI for America, a new roadmap to make AI work for all Americans by making big AI companies part of the solution. At the center of the plan is the AI Horizon Fund, a federal fund fueled by contributions from leading AI companies that would provide the resources needed to reinvest in workers, infrastructure, and responsible deployment.

Opinion | Social media has changed our politics for the worse

In trying to make sense of the current political moment, I like to imagine what historians might say a century from now, with the distance and dispassion that today’s historians may bring to the First World War or the Great Depression. It’s guesswork, of course, but lately I’ve been coming around to one conclusion that may seem obvious decades from now: that America can have social media, or we can have a healthy democracy, but it might have been foolish to think we could have both for long. Rarely has the corrosion of social media been so plainly exposed as it has been since the horrific <

FEMA Says the Check is in the E-Mail

The Federal Emergency Management Agency now requires disaster survivors to register for federal aid using an e-mail address—a change from previous policy that made an e-mail address optional. While the move is intended to modernize and streamline the process of applying for disaster aid, it risks blocking vulnerable populations from accessing critical federal assistance in the wake of disasters. How does the move put disaster victims at risk, and what can communities—and FEMA—do to ensure folks can still get the assistance they need? 

Analysis

FEMA Says the Check is in the E-Mail

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Shirley Bloomfield Stepping Down From NTCA

Many of you know my creed in leadership that we all have a finite time to leave our world better than we found it. And part of that recognition is knowing when the time has come in the life cycle of an organization to have fresh leadership, perspective, vision and a longer runway to get the job done. While this is a bittersweet message to deliver, this is the right time for our industry to make that change. We just came through a crisis over the past four years where we didn’t know if the essential Universal Service Fund would survive. But through our hard work together, it did.

Kansas DOCK Program Announces Availability of $1.95 Million in Digital Skills Funds

Applications are open for the second round of the Digital Opportunities to Connect Kansans program, Governor Laura Kelly announced. In the second round, $1.95 million in funds will be available for programs designed to enhance the digital skills of state residents. The DOCK program is designed to promote access to digital resources by providing awards to help with funding for digital skills development programs across Kansas.