Letter

Consumers' Research is a nonprofit consumer-education organization. Its members and the individual consumers with whom it works pay a "Federal Universal Service Charge" as a separate line item on their phone bills. That charge is a tax. It is now, by the Federal Communications Commission's own proposal, 42 percent of interstate telecommunications revenues for the fourth quarter of 2026—the highest contribution factor in the history of the Fund. The High-Cost program is the principal reason.

Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are calling on the U.S. Department of Commerce to immediately issue guidance regarding the use of Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds for non-deployment activities so that communities can get funding out the door to eligible projects.

Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez to issue a legal opinion addressing whether the Communications Act permits the Federal Communications Commission to legally operate with members from a single political party. He wrote, "As you know, President Trump recently nominated Danielle Thumann Severs to be an FCC Commissioner. If confirmed, she would become the third Republican commissioner on the FCC, with you as the sole Democrat.

CarolinaConnect Cooperative withdrew from the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program. While CarolinaConnect Cooperative remains committed to delivering gigabit-tier broadband and voice services to rural communities in South Carolina, escalating construction costs to deploy broadband and voice services throughout its RDOF-funded area, combined with the relatively modest RDOF funding authorized for CarolinaConnect Cooperative, have led It to make this difficult decision. CarolinaConnect Cooperative will no longer receive RDOF support and may be subje

How to apply the Federal Records Act (FRA) to existing Artificial Intelligence (AI) uses, with a focus on the use of AI platforms. Agencies’ use of AI platforms does not, in and of itself, result in the creation of federal records. Subsequent use of AI-generated materials in agency business may result in the creation of federal records. This memorandum explains the factors agencies should consider when making these determinations.

In the coming months, AI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated as models around the world become increasingly capable. The companies and public services our communities depend on—from hospitals to water treatment plants to the infrastructure that powers the internet—are at risk. Today’s AI advances are already giving defenders new ways to fix weaknesses that have accumulated for years. If we act decisively, we can use the defenders’ window to make our digital world much more secure. We propose the following principles for a collective response:

New guidance to help states, school districts, educators, families, and education technology providers make informed decisions about the responsible use of technology in classrooms. The guidance encourages a focus on instructional value over recreational engagement when selecting and using technological tools in the classroom. It also urges states to pair innovation with evidence, educator judgement, transparency for parents, and a relentless focus on student outcomes.

We urge the Commonwealth to expand its efforts to comprehensively address the digital divide, including the issues of broadband affordability and adoption. Specifically, we recommend that Pennsylvania:

Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) led members of Congress in demanding additional information from the artificial intelligence companies Anthropic and OpenAI regarding incidents in which AI models have hacked into other organizations.

Almost every day, there is a new story about how OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta are losing control of the AI technology you are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results. We recently learned, frighteningly, that AI has been used for the first time ever to create new viruses. As you know, this type of development, in the wrong hands, could lead to new bioweapons that result in the deaths of tens of millions of people. In July, the world found out OpenAI lost control of an AI model. The result? The model hacked into another company’s computers—a clear violation of federal law.