Responding to state budget cuts in the Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Fund Program (BLLRF), the California Public Utilities Commission clarified Thursday during a meeting that it will award just $50 million of the originally planned $750 million. The program was meant to support broadband deployment costs for nonprofits, local and tribal governments. But at the same livestreamed session, commissioners approved about $91 million in grants from the federal funding account (FFA) for 10 last-mile projects.
Much like the accountants and audit standards that safeguard financial systems, the generative AI universe needs an ecosystem of organizations, rules and people to oversee the technology and ensure it works as promised, NTIA Director Alan Davidson said during a talk Thursday at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Davidson said the federal government is sorely lacking in the technical expertise it needs to wrestle with AI-related policy questions. While the government's technical knowledge is improving, "a huge gap" remains, Davidson said. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said Thursday that the U.S. is falling behind other nations in AI policy development (see 2409120035).
California's public-private agreement with Google for funding news publishers (see 2408220039) undercompensates journalists and doesn’t address all the tech companies benefiting from news content, said NAB in a blog post Wednesday. “This is another missed opportunity for meaningful progress and a reminder of Big Tech’s continued unchecked dominance,” it said. The deal “makes abundantly clear that the need for federal action is now more urgent than ever,” and calls for Congress to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA). “It’s ironic that while this deal offers AI accelerator funds, it ignores the fact that Big Tech-backed AI platforms continue to ingest and profit from local news content without proper compensation or permission,” NAB said. “News is costly to produce, and stations invest significant resources to keep reporters in their local communities,” NAB said. “The business practices of the tech giants prevent local stations from recouping their investment in local journalism, as these platforms exert enormous influence over what online content is eligible to be monetized.” Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D), who announced the agreement, didn’t comment.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. Lawsuits added since the last update are marked with an *.
House Administration Committee ranking member Joe Morelle of New York, Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui of California and other Democrats voiced continued support Wednesday for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s embattled AI political ad disclosures NPRM (see 2407250046). However, they suggested the agency should take further steps if Congress can agree on relevant legislation. Congressional Republicans have repeatedly criticized FCC action on the matter so near the November elections, including during a July House Communications agency oversight hearing (see 2407090049).
Forty-two attorneys general supported U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s recommendation that social media carry warnings like the labels on cigarette packages. Murthy suggested last June that social media companies display warnings about mental health risks associated with their platforms (see 2406170059). The 42 bipartisan AGs, writing Monday under National Association of Attorneys General letterhead and representing states including California, New York and Indiana, supported the idea in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “Young people are facing a mental health crisis, which is fueled in large part by social media,” wrote the AGs from 39 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “This generational harm demands immediate action. By mandating a surgeon general’s warning on algorithm-driven social media platforms, Congress can help abate this growing crisis and protect future generations of Americans.” New York AG Letitia James hopes “warning labels will be implemented swiftly to raise more awareness about this issue," the Democrat said in a news release Tuesday. Arkansas AG Tim Griffin (R) said, "A Surgeon General’s warning on social media platforms isn’t a cure-all, but it’s a step in the right direction toward keeping our kids safe in digital spaces.”
House Communications Subcommittee members traded partisan barbs about NTIA’s implementation of the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, as expected (see 2409040040). Republicans delivered most of the criticism, in part blasting NTIA for what they view as an unnecessarily long timeline for rolling out the money. House Commerce Committee panel GOP leaders launched a probe in July of NTIA’s BEAD-related communications with state broadband offices (see 2407090057). Democrats defended NTIA’s management of the program and blasted GOP lawmakers for obstructing recent broadband funding efforts.
AT&T, which is already dealing with a strike by Communications Workers of America members in the Southeast, now faces a CWA walk out in the West (see 2409050049). “Our members had a chance to review and vote on the AT&T West tentative agreement, and the majority determined that it did not meet their needs,” CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce said Friday: “We will use all the tools at our disposal to win a fair contract, including a strike if it becomes necessary.” The AT&T West agreement covers some 8,000 workers in California and Nevada whose contract expired April 6, a CWA spokesperson emailed Monday.
California should shut down AT&T’s deregulation bid, consumer groups argued in briefs to the California Public Utilities Commission Friday. After denying AT&T relief from carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations in June (2406200065), the state commission is weighing AT&T’s separate application to relinquish its eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designation (docket A.23-03-002). AT&T claimed that the CPUC has no choice but to grant the application for statewide relief.
NCTA announces New Venture Fund’s Shannon Scott as CFO … Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology hires Clarence Okoh, ex-Center for Law and Social Policy, as senior associate, and announces as distinguished fellows Anton Barba-Kay, Institute for Practical Ethics at University of California, San Diego; Anil Kalhan, Drexel University; and Justin Sherman, Global Cyber Strategies … UiPath AI software company expands CFO Ashim Gupta’s role to COO and appoints Soma Somasegar, Madrona Ventures, to board.