New Mexico Gov Michelle Lujan Grisham and Utah Gov Spencer Cox, Chair and Vice Chair of the Western Governors' Association, wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to express concerns about disruptions to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. The governors expressed concern that significant required changes to BEAD plans could cause delays of up to a year. They wrote, "We underscore the need for flexibility in the implementation of any changes, as reflected in Acting Assistant Secretary Cassady’s remarks, to enable us to address our states’ and territories’ unique needs and priorities. We suggest that if NTIA gives states the option to either opt into the revised application and bidding processes or continue with their original plans, these delays in deployment could likely be avoided."

This DRAFT Report and Order would eliminate the professional engineer certification requirement for the biannual Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filings and instead allow the biannual filings to be certified by a qualified engineer.  An engineer certifying BDC filings would be considered a qualified engineer if they meet minimum experience and educational requirements relevant to broadband network design.  The Report and Order also clarifies that a certifying engineer does not need to be a full-time employee of the company filing BDC data.  This item, if adopted, would eliminate a requirement for filers of BDC biannual data to have filings certified by a licensed professional engineer and instead permit them to have filings certified by a qualified engineer. The Federal Communications Commission anticipates this change will reduce for most filers the costs and burdens associated with procuring a licensed professional engineer to certify their biannual BDC filings.  The amended requirement, in combination with the BDC verification and audit processes and challenges from the public, provides the Commission with the necessary tools to ensure that BDC data are accurate and timely and ensures that filers have engaged in the analysis necessary to meet Congress’s objective of developing more accurate data.  

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced a $2.3 million investment in digital skills training and workforce readiness programs that will target nearly 50,000 Kansans. Through the Digital Opportunities to Connect Kansans program, the Kansas Office of Broadband Development will partner with 13 organizations to ensure residents can maximize what the availability of high-speed internet across the state has to offer. The DOCK program expands access to necessary digital tools and opportunities to upskill the workforce. Examples of what various organizations intend to deliver in their communities include:     

• Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas will create a pilot digital literacy program to address the area’s documented need for digital opportunity and extend access to critical digital education.   
• Tree Top Security in northwest Kansas will provide cybersecurity and digital skills training to small businesses, empowering them to protect data, prevent cyber threats, and enhance their operations using modern digital tools.  
• Eagle Nest’s “Digital Skills Launching Pad” will offer digital literacy training to justice-involved women, survivors of domestic violence, and women facing generational poverty in Cowley County. Training will focus on skills such as online safety, job readiness, and internet navigation.   
• The Liberal Area Coalition for Families in southwest Kansas will educate parents on digital safety in order to prepare children for a digital world. Parents will gain crucial skills to monitor their children’s online activities and ensure safe internet use, promoting better family communication and involvement in their children’s education.  

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here and cementing its place in our communications networks faster than any other developing technology. With this in mind, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on June 4th to discuss AI and its "current applications and future frontiers in communications and technology." Through this hearing, the subcommittee and its selected witnesses sought to answer three main questions about the development of AI:

• How can AI be used to enhance efficiency within our communications networks?
• How can we use AI to secure our communications infrastructure from malicious actors?
• What opportunities and challenges does AI present across various sectors of the communications and technology industries?

Gov Kathy Hochul (D-NY) said that lawmakers who claim not to have read parts of the GOP spending bill should use ChatGPT to ask: "Anything I should worry about in here?" Gov Hochul spoke about the economic, political, and social consequences of AI—from training workforces to children's safety. Five key takeaways:

1. Gov Hochul took a dig at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for saying she didn't know the GOP tax bill that passed the House in May included a provision that would ban states and municipalities from regulating the technology for 10 years. 
2. She called out the GOP spending bill for that provision, calling it a "concerning" move by House Republicans.
3. AI doesn't have to replace jobs.
4.  "I'm New York state's first mom governor, and I look out for all the kids," she said regarding online safety.
5. New York is challenging the White House, including on saving offshore wind, congestion pricing, and challenges to birthright citizenship.

The rapid development of data centers connected to the largest US electric grid raised costs by $9.4 billion, an expense that consumers from Illinois to Washington, D.C., will soon see reflected in their utility bills. Overall costs rose by 180 percent, with the growing energy needs of data centers being the primary cause of tight supply-and-demand conditions, as well as high prices, in the PJM Interconnection capacity market, which serves customers from Illinois to Washington D.C., according to a report bby Monitoring Analytics, the grid’s independent market monitor. The analysis from PJM’s watchdog asserts that households and businesses are subsidizing the data center boom being carried out by some of the richest tech companies in the world. “The current conditions are not the result of organic load growth,” Monitoring Analytics said in the report. “The current conditions in the capacity market are almost entirely the result of large load additions from data centers, both actual historical and forecast.”

Federal Communications Commission Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington have each announced that they are departing from the FCC on Friday, June 6. Effective with their departures, the FCC will be down to only two commissioners. Until an additional commissioner is confirmed by the Senate, the FCC cannot take Commission-level actions. As a result, FCC Chairman Carr will temporarily be stymied in advancing his policy agenda, and the Commission will be unable to rule on major merger transactions. While much of the FCC’s routine work will remain “business as usual,” these handicaps are likely to push the Senate to confirm a third commissioner sooner than originally anticipated.

For almost a year, Elon Musk marshaled the full force of X, his $45 billion social media platform, to boost Donald Trump’s political fortunes and second presidency. As he two men publicly fought in a flurry of furious online posts, Musk revealed X to be a double-edged sword. Musk spent hours firing off mocking memes, curt put-downs and explosive allegations to his 220 million followers, just as he did during Trump’s candidacy and as a member of his administration. Only this time, the target was Trump himself, not the president’s critics. The attack deployed tactics familiar from Musk’s many previous online battles. He dredged up old Trump tweets to suggest hypocrisy. He amplified posts from others critical of Trump. He accused the president of “an obvious lie” about the cause of their falling-out and blasted him for “ingratitude” for Musk’s political support, claiming that “without me, Trump would have lost the election.” As President Trump lobbed disparaging posts back from his own social media platform, Truth Social, Musk also turned to a tactic he has used against others who have crossed him: insinuations of personal scandal.