January 2026

OpenAI adds ChatGPT Health for medical questions

OpenAI is expanding its capabilities by adding a dedicated health tab to ChatGPT, allowing people to bring in electronic medical records and other data from apps like Apple Health and MyFitnessPal. Seeking answers for health-related queries is already a top use of ChatGPT, with more than 40 million people using it daily for medical and health insurance questions. Even before the introduction of the dedicated tab, people have been flocking to ChatGPT to make sense of lab tests, navigate health insurance claims, and figure out what is causing various symptoms.

New Mexico celebrates launch of rural student broadband connections

A total of 484 student households in Grant County (NM) are receiving high-speed internet, thanks to a New Mexico Student Connect grant program designed to provide broadband access to rural students across New Mexico. The Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) joined TWN Communications, state leaders, and local officials at Silver High School to celebrate the launch of a $1.5 million Student Connect grant project connecting rural students and school staff in Silver City.

AT&T is on the hunt for more 3.45 GHz spectrum

It looks like AT&T wants to add even more to its 3.45 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum stockpile through a licensing deal with Pennsylvania-based Blue Ridge Wireless. Some eagle eyes spotted recent filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) where AT&T describes a 3.45 GHz spectrum lease arrangement with Blue Ridge. AT&T argues that access to the spectrum, which must be approved by the FCC, will “greatly enhance” the quality of the service it offers to its subscribers. AT&T was the biggest bidder in the 2021 auction of 3.45 GHz airwaves, and it’s in the process of acqui

Non-Deployment Funds Unlikely to be Clawed Back, Experts Say

Nearly half of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program’s funding won’t be used for broadband deployment projects, partly a result of new Trump Administration rules aimed at cost-cutting. When those new rules were instituted in June 2025, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) rescinded approval for any non-deployment activities, something state broadband offices had been planning on pursuing. Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton and Pew Charitable Trusts' Broadband Access Initiative Director Kathryn de Wit said they’re o

The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape

One float stood out among the tinsel and holiday cheer at the annual Christmas parade in Sand Springs (OK): an unsightly data center with blinding industrial lights and smoke pouring out of its roof, towering menacingly over a helpless gingerbread house. Sand Springs, bordering Tulsa, is a battleground, one of many across the country, where companies seeking to build massive data centers to win the artificial intelligence (AI) race with China are coming up against the reality of local politics.