Florida

Conexon Connect submitted compliance reports for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund locations in Mississippi, Florida, Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, and Illinois. Conexon Connect delayed its RDOF buildout in some states until state broadband offices finalized Broadband, Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) Program funding decisions. This delay, the company believes, was prudent because Conexon Connect’s network would require modification to account for any new BEAD-funded areas.

Florida fired a new broadside in a growing rebellion against alleged safety failings of artificial-intelligence chatbots, becoming the first state to file a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman. The lawsuit, filed by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, claims OpenAI and Altman knowingly released an unsafe product and ignored warnings that it could harm users.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R-FL) opened an investigation into ChatGPT and its parent company, OpenAI, in part because the man accused of killing two people at Florida State University in 2025 had consulted with the chatbot leading up to the shooting. Attorney General Uthmeier said his office had learned that ChatGPT “may likely have been used to assist” the suspect in the shooting at Florida State. He also cited broader concerns about artificial intelligence.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) denied Mediacom Wireless of Florida LLC and Mediacom Wireless of Georgia LLC’s (collectively, Mediacom) request for waiver of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) requirement to certify that they offered service to 40% of the Connect America Cost Model (CAM)-estimated number of locations by December 31, 2025 and/or an extension of the service milestone until June 30, 2026 to complete deployment to 40% of the required number of locations.

Florida lawmakers failed to pass a sweeping bill aimed at reining in the power of artificial intelligence by the time their annual legislative session wrapped up. The legislation, known as an A.I. Bill of Rights, flopped even though Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, had spent months championing it. The bill would have forced companies to disclose when they used A.I. chatbots to interact with consumers and forbidden the technology’s use in licensed mental health counseling, among other measures.

The vast majority of states and territories have released their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program final proposals for public comment. Many have closed their feedback periods, wrapped up their plans, and submitted those plans to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for approval. For the few remaining states that received extensions on the deadline to submit final plans, this process is still underway. Here are a few of the states that are in the process of completing their plans.

Comcast has extended its network to more than 32,000 homes and businesses across 16 rural counties in Florida. The expansion is funded through a public-private $322 million partnership with the state’s Broadband Opportunity Program and Capital Projects Fund, and brings gigabit-plus internet, mobile, entertainment, and home security services via Xfinity and Comcast Business to previously underserved communities.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB or Bureau) announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census block groups (CBGs) are now eligible for other funding programs.

Wire 3, a Florida-based, 100 percent fiber internet provider, announced that the company has closed on a new private credit financing totaling $235 million, arranged by Guggenheim Investments on behalf of certain clients. Together with commitments from Oak Hill Capital, the company has raised more than $550 million to date, further accelerating Wire 3’s commitment to expanding Florida’s fiber internet infrastructure. This opportunity positions Wire 3 to build upon its growing footprint that deploys symmetrical upload and download speeds throughout seven Central-Florida counties.