December 14, 2023 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced at an event hosted by the Center for Democracy and Technology Wednesday its intention to develop a plan to review artificial intelligence models.

President Joe Biden’s recent sweeping AI-focused regulatory executive order requires the Commerce agency to review all the risks and benefits of AI models. 

To meet those requirements, the NTIA’s review will assess the risk posed by open AI models, the benefits of competition present in the AI market, and potential regulatory moves to mitigate risks from openness. 

The NTIA is heavily concerned with looking at how open AI models are, which refers to the fact that AI development and methods are public. Dual-use foundation models, which are behind things like chatbots, are widely available and a main subject of regulatory investigation for the NTIA.  

NTIA head Alan Davidson said the country “will only realize the promise of AI if we also address the serious risks it raises. This project will seek policies that promote both safety and allow for broad access to AI tools.”

Coalition opposes Section 230 AI bill

A coalition of organizations, such as think tanks TechFreedom and R Street Institute, opposed in a letter on Monday legislation that would remove any liability immunity for AI-generated content on platforms, arguing such content is already prevalent on many websites. 

The legislation put forth by Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and called the Hawley-Blumenthal No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act, would remove protections for such content under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. 

“The now widespread deployment of AI for content composition, recommendation, and moderation would effectively render any website or app liable for virtually all content posted to them,” the opposition letter said.  

Signatories added that the legislation would erode the broad and nationwide efficacy of Section 230 by tacking on circumstantial liable entities — that being online social services when they integrate AI tools into their platforms. 

The letter adds that placing liability on social sites would be unfair if the user relied on AI to make content, that the act disincentivizes generative AI tools by forcing online sites to forgo them, and that it will make content moderation more difficult by not letting online sites harness AI to moderate content on the platform. 

FCC announces more ECF funding  

The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that it is committing over $450,000 in additional funding for the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. 

The funding announcement will go toward assisting nearly 1,000 students, according to a press release.  

The ECF provides connectivity assistance when students are away from school. 

“The Homework Gap remains a serious challenge for today’s students and families. This funding is a vital investment that helps ensure everyone who counts on schools and libraries can get the connections they need to thrive in the digital age,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The ECF launched in 2021 and has to date allocated $7.09 billion of its $7.17 billion in funding. 

WASHINGTON, December 13, 2023 – The Labor Department announced Tuesday the extension of a strategic collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission and a contractor association to prevent fatalities, injuries, and illnesses often encountered by workers in the telecommunications industry.

The renewed five-year commitment between Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the FCC and NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association aims to develop best practices to address the root causes of various hazards faced by tower technicians, including falls from heights, high-energy electrical contact, falling objects, tower collapses, and inclement weather conditions during tower construction and maintenance activities.

The partners will also establish job-specific safety and health training for supervisors and foreperson, telecommunications tower technicians, project managers and project supervisors.

Over 65 percent of wireless tower technicians have worked on sites where someone sustained injuries, and nearly one-in-five workers know someone who has been killed on the job, per a safety survey conducted by the Communications Workers of America.

Most respondents report their employers enforcing rules or work conditions that could jeopardize safety.

The timing of this renewed agreement comes as the association’s member companies and their technicians play a frontline role in building out networks as part of the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program, funding from which is expected to reach states in 2024.

In preparation for the BEAD rollout, the partnership is aiming to mitigate issues through outreach, training, and technical assistance.

White House AI Council convenes for inaugural session

Members of the Joe Biden administration convened for the inaugural session of the White House AI Council on Tuesday to strategize the execution of President Biden’s AI executive order.

During the meeting, officials discussed methods to attract skilled individuals to government roles, protocols for safe testing of new AI models, and strategies to mitigate risks including fraud, discrimination, and privacy concerns.

Additionally, the gathering addressed the recently announced U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute, initiated by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology last month.

The participants received a classified briefing from the president’s national security team to discuss the international dimensions and capability of AI, according to The Hill, citing a White House official.

Among the attendees were Cabinet members including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough.

The White House AI Council is set to convene regularly, in line with its establishment within Biden’s comprehensive executive order on AI. Notably, the order mandates the reporting of information regarding the testing and subsequent outcomes of models posing risks to national security, economic stability, or public health to the federal government.

NDIA launches resource collection for advancing digital inclusion initiatives

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance announced Wednesday it is launching an open collection of 591 verified resources and documents for researchers, advocates, and local governments to utilize in advancing digital inclusion initiatives.

The available resources span a wide range, including awarded grant applications, budgets and financial plans, job descriptions, and comprehensive digital equity strategies.

The materials are sourced from 47 communities across the country, which NDIA recognized today as 2023 Digital Inclusion Trailblazers. The communities were chosen because they consistently demonstrate contemporary best practices in the rapidly growing digital inclusion field.

Alongside the new interactive resource base, NDIA has launched an interactive map and a searchable database to enhance accessibility to these invaluable resources.

See the resource database and list of 47 communities recognized as 2023 Digital Inclusion Trailblazers here on NDIA’s website.

December 12, 2023 – A California jury found Google guilty on Monday of engaging in anticompetitive conduct over the distribution of the app of video game company Epic Games. 

The verdict form out of the Northern District of California affirmed that Google’s operating system Android engaged in anticompetitive conduct in the distribution market and the market for in-app billing services for digital goods and services transactions. 

Epic, the creator of popular game Fortnite, accused the search giant in 2020 of gatekeeping which other app stores Epic could host its content on and for forbidding the game maker from charging customers for in-game purchases through the app, thereby bypassing the Android store fee. 

Epic alleged the tech giant made it restrictive to distribute its apps elsewhere by engaging in agreements with device manufacturers and competitors to exclude other app stores. 

In their verdict, the jury determined that Google’s practice of forming those kinds of agreements along with practices like the Games Velocity Program, which Google has said offers incentives for developers to launch their apps on Google Play, were anticompetitive.   

In a blog post about the finalized antitrust trial, Epic Games cited the verdict as a win for all app-developers, a sentiment that was echoed by Epic CEO Tim Sweeney in an X post, in which he said “Victory over Google!” 

The court is expected to decide the consequences of the verdict next month. 

Idaho awards $120 million to broadband projects

The Idaho Broadband Advisory Board announced Thursday the allocation of $120 million in funding to 18 broadband projects. 

The funding is coming from the Idaho Capital Projects Fund, which is part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Capital Project Fund of $10 billion provided to states and territories and tribal governments to, in part, improve broadband connectivity and access in unserved and underserved areas. 

Winners included Ziply Fiber, Comcast and individual counties. Projects received financing anywhere from just over $2 million up to $15 million. 

“These awarded projects are another important step in furthering the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board’s mission of ensuring that all Idahoans have access to affordable and reliable internet,” said IBAB chair John Vander. 

“These grants are the culmination of months working together and engaging stakeholders, local communities and internet providers all across the State,” said Idaho Broadband Program manager Ramón Hobdey-Sánchez. 

Google Fiber names new chief technology and product officer

Google Fiber announced Tuesday that John Keib will be the company’s first chief technology and product officer, overseeing supply chain efforts and product and engineering departments. 

Keib originally joined Google Fiber in 2019 as vice president of product and has been working on building internet services with improved speeds and quality, said a press release. 

Prior to working at Google Fiber, Keib served as COO for residential services at Time Warner where he worked in sales, marketing, customer service and technical operations. 

“John’s visionary leadership is critical to GFiber’s ability to truly push the boundaries of what ISP can be,” said Google Fiber CEO Dinni Jain in a press release. “With product, engineering, and GFiber Labs under his guidance, we’re very lucky to have him setting both the path for where we’re going and the bar for what we need to be as a company.”