Nat Purser

When the same question keeps coming up in conversations about my work, I take that as a sign that it’s worth grappling with and answering. Lately, that question has been “why use AI when you can just Google it?” ​​In my experience, this question usually comes from one of two groups: people who do not really use large language models like Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT—or people who do use them, but primarily as a stand-in for Google. So, I’m writing something that I hope will capture some of the nuances of these tools’ capabilities.

Rather than doing the hard work of establishing a federal regulatory standard for AI with Congress, the White House has invented authorities and delegated non-existent powers to the agencies and executives most anxious to do the President’s bidding. Meanwhile, Congress is trying again to slip soundly rejected AI regulation moratoriums into must-pass legislation in the dark of night.

The federal government needs to get its broadband policy straight. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration just overhauled a major broadband infrastructure program to shift billions in funding from fiber networks to unlicensed fixed wireless, or ULFW, a high-capacity Wi-Fi connection that's transmitted over the airwaves to a location.

The Commerce Department is considering changes to the distribution of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program that could significantly delay broadband deployment and redirect billions away from fiber and fixed wireless in favor of Low-Earth Orbit satellite services like Starlink’s. LEO satellites have distinct advantages in remote areas, but they also have technical & economic tradeoffs that would undermine BEAD’s long-term goals of reliable, scalable broadband access.

In March 2024, the Federal Communications Commission circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or NPRM, seeking input on how to best “lower costs and address the lack of choice for broadband services available to households in apartments, condos, public housing, and other multi-tenant buildings.” Public Knowledge and 30 other organizations

On April 25, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to reinstate the net neutrality rules and resume real regulatory oversight over broadband. It is critical that the text of this reinstated regulatory framework does not inadvertently undermine its own objectives in regards to broadband affordability.