Internet/Broadband

Seventy-eight percent of American adults expect abuses of artificial intelligence systems (AIs) that will affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, according to a new national survey by the Elon Poll and the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University. The survey finds:

Internet technologies’ and platforms’ potential psychological consequences remain debated. While these technologies have spurred new forms of commerce, education, and leisure, many are worried that they might negatively affect individuals by, for example, displacing time spent on other healthy activities. Relevant findings to date have been inconclusive and of limited geographic and demographic scope.

The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group comprised of Senator Todd Young (R-IN), Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) today released a roadmap for artificial intelligence policy in the United States Senate. This AI policy roadmap summarizes the findings of the bipartisan working group and highlights policy topics that the group believes merit bipartisan consideration in the Senate in the 118th Congress and beyond.

In order to balance the state’s budget, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed $2 billion in cuts to broadband projects that would have expanded internet access across the state. The move outraged digital equity advocates in Los Angeles who say it could jeopardize efforts to reach some of the most vulnerable groups in the area. About 200,000 LA County households don’t have internet. “We are disappointed to see this rollback,” said Cristal Mojica of the Michelson Center for Public Policy.

The Minnesota broadband scene is heating up as service providers rally against new legislation they say will stifle the state’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) plan. Minnesota was awarded over $651 million as part of the federal BEAD program. The state’s initial BEAD plan was submitted last year and is still awaiting approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The cable industry hasn’t been doing too great with keeping broadband subscribers, and Charter is no different. CEO Chris Winfrey’s take on the situation?

Virginia’s recently passed law to speed broadband deployment to rural areas now has a financial component. Gov Glenn Youngkin’s (R-VA) signature on the General Assembly’s budget bill will move $50 million over two years from the general fund to the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, or VATI. The new law, SB 713, is set to go into effect July 1.

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) began implementing an important Internet routing security measure, enhancing cybersecurity throughout the Department and completing a key priority from the National Cybersecurity Strategy. Routing security—ensuring that Internet traffic reaches its intended target—has been a concern for more than 20 years. In 2003, the White House noted that Internet routing incidents created a great risk of Internet service disruption.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Pennsylvania’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

On May 14, the Biden-Harris Administration hosted a Rural Communities in Action event at the White House to highlight how the Administration is investing in rural communities.