Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retired from the chipmaker and left its board effective Sunday, the company said Monday. David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus will serve as interim co-CEOs while the board seeks a permanent replacement. Zinsner is CFO, and Holthaus -- most recently general manager-client computing group -- was named CEO of Intel Products, which includes the client consulting group, data center and AI group and network and edge group. Independent board member Frank Yeary will be interim executive chair. In a statement, Yeary said that under Zinsner and Holthaus, Intel "will continue to act with urgency on our priorities: simplifying and strengthening our product portfolio and advancing our manufacturing and foundry capabilities while optimizing our operating expenses and capital. We are working to create a leaner, simpler, more agile Intel.”
GeoLinks announces Lynda Willis, ex-Tuff Boy Sales, as CEO … Comtech Telecom elects Delta Value Group’s Ken Traub as executive chairman, succeeding Mark Quinlan, stepping down, and announces retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford as independent director.
It would be a mistake for the Trump administration to undo President Joe Biden’s efforts at establishing a rights-based regulatory framework for AI technology, Democrats told us in interviews before the break.
Supporters of opening the lower 12 GHz band for fixed wireless use remain hopeful about a favorable FCC decision. That's despite the opposition from SpaceX and the major role its CEO, Elon Musk, is now playing ahead of the start of the second Trump presidency. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the agency, has said repeatedly he will follow the guidance of FCC engineers about the band's future (see 2207140053).
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's pick as agency chair, has signaled he would be receptive to banning pharmaceutical advertising on broadcast television, but attorneys, analysts and industry officials told us any attempt to do so would face an uphill battle. “I think it probably requires that two-step, where Congress passes a law, or maybe [the Department of Health and Human Services] HHS can do it, but there is precedent where that happens and the FCC enforces it,” Carr said during a recent interview with radio host Dana Loesch. Losing pharma ads would be a “major hit” for TV broadcasters, as the industry represents nearly a third of local TV ad spending, said BIA Advisory Services Managing Director Rick Ducey. In 2023, pharmaceuticals spent $2.4 billion on broadcast TV ads, according to Media Radar.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, could shift the direction Congress’ USF revamp takes when he becomes the panel’s chairman in January, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Observers believe his impact on what Congress decides will partially depend on how the U.S. Supreme Court rules when it reviews the FCC appeal of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in favor of Consumers' Research's challenge of the USF contribution methodology (see 2411220050). A high court ruling upholding the 5th Circuit could shift momentum in favor of Cruz’s proposal that Congress make USF funding part of the appropriations process, officials said.
The European Parliament Wednesday approved a slate of European commissioners, whose five-year terms are expected to begin Dec. 1. Among the new officials are Henna Virkkunen, former Finnish member of the European Parliament, as executive vice president-tech sovereignty, security and democracy; Stephane Sejourne, former French minister of foreign affairs, as vice president-prosperity and industrial strategy; Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, former Spanish ecological transition minister, as executive vice president for a clean, just and competitive transition; and Michael McGrath of Ireland's Republican Party as commissioner for democracy, justice and the rule of law. The new team will work across different areas "because the challenges of our times are all intertwined," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The EC's first major initiative will be a "competitiveness compass" under which Europe will close the innovation gap with the U.S. and China, create a joint plan for decarbonization and competitiveness; and boost security, von der Leyen announced. "Without urgent, powerful and ambitious reforms from policymakers, Europe will fall even further behind its global peers," said the GSM Association. Much of 2024 has been spent debating the new Digital Networks Act, and GSMA urged the EC to make it a priority. Among other things, the measure calls for reducing regulations and updating spectrum licensing procedures.
The next FCC and Trump administration will place a major focus on deregulation of commercial space activities and streamlining the approvals processes, space policy experts tell us. In addition, some expect long-awaited clarity on what agency oversees novel space missions like in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing, or asteroid mining. Moreover, the experts anticipate increased openness about the use of satellite communications in federal programs fighting the digital divide.
The extent to which the U.S. Supreme Court decides the USF challenge on theoretical rather than practical grounds could have major implications for whether the court issues a decision that overturns the program's funding mechanism. The court said last week it will hear a challenge to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 9-7 en banc decision, which found the USF contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.” Consumers' Research challenged the contribution factor in the 5th Circuit and other courts.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser-cyber and emerging technology, met with U.S. telecom executives Friday to discuss China’s “significant cyber espionage campaign targeting the sector,” the White House said. Senate Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., last week called for an FCC investigation of a Chinese hacking campaign, which in part allegedly targeted communications from Vice President-elect JD Vance and the presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris (see 2411190073). “The meeting was an opportunity to hear from telecommunications sector executives on how the U.S. Government can partner with and support the private sector on hardening against sophisticated nation state attacks,” the White House said. Officials didn’t disclose what companies’ executives attended the meeting.