Federal

Eleven bills carrying most of a bipartisan artificial intelligence package cleared the House Science Committee in July, and a separate bill setting safety rules for the most powerful AI systems could get a hearing in November, said Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA). He said the pieces could be combined into a single bill eligible for a floor vote in December. The package started as the Great American AI Act, a 269-page discussion draft Obernolte released with Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) on June 4, 2026.

The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program has lived a highly dramatic life since Congress created it as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.The most recent high-stakes drama involves the state of California.

The House Commerce Committee reported 16 bills to the full House of Representatives. 

• H.R. 10170, the Memory Chip Competitiveness Assessment Act, was reported to the full House, as amended, by a roll call vote of 45 yeas to 0 nays.

California is on the verge of accepting $1.86 billion in federal broadband grant funds, despite the Trump administration telling states they cannot enforce net neutrality rules on any Internet service provider that gets a piece of the grant money.

A quick catch-up for anyone joining late. On Aug.

SpaceX is continuing to pursue its case with the Federal Communications Commission that the proliferation of low-Earth orbit satellite service renders rural broadband subsidies obsolete, while depicting the opposing arguments of "subsidy-dependent incumbents" as "unfounded" and "implausible." The company's most recent remarks on the matter came in the form of reply comments to the FCC's proceeding on modernizing High-Cost, a program operated under the Universal Service Fund that helps subsidize telecom network deployment and maintenance in rural areas.

Commercializing the 4 GHz band (4.4-4.94 GHz) will be key to U.S. efforts to lead the world in wireless and next-generation AI innovation. The band sits in prime mid-band territory, can support the wide channels required for future advanced network capabilities, and is already aligned with existing global 5G and 6G standards and device ecosystems. As AI traffic spikes and 6G moves from concept to reality in coming years, the United States will need new large, contiguous blocks of full-power commercial spectrum. The 4 GHz band is a prime opportunity for the U.S.

Does federal money for rural broadband change the economies of the places that receive it? Any answer rests on a comparison between funded places and unfunded ones, and the unfunded side of that comparison is this paper’s subject.

The House passed a bill meant to protect consumers from higher electricity rates caused by data centers in one of its final votes before the midterms. The bill passed under a procedure that fast-tracks noncontroversial legislation and requires a two-thirds majority vote.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed a ruling that Google must allow its ad technology to work with rival products and share more data with customers to weaken the company’s dominance in online marketing, effectively ensuring that the tech titan’s business will continue largely unscathed. Judge Leonie M. Brinkema found that Google broke the law to protect its control over technology that places ads on pages across the web.