The breadth of AI is hindering regulators, preventing them from proposing regulations for connected tech, said Adam Thierer, R Street senior fellow, technology and regulation, in a panel discussion at the State of the Net conference Monday. Efforts to regulate AI at the macro level are “sucking up all the oxygen in committee rooms” and preventing discussion of smaller components of AI such as privacy. Thierer said. “This is why I don't think anything's gonna move through Congress.” Similarly, Evangelos Razis, senior manager-public policy, at AI company Workday said lawmakers should focus on the most high-impact risks of AI use, such as in healthcare, rather than trying to “have an all-encompassing AI approach that will regulate every potential use of AI.” Thierer said the AI regulatory approach should mirror the light-touch taken with the young internet. “We got a lot about the internet right,” Thierer said. Yet Miranda Bogen, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s AI Governance Lab, said the wait-and-see approach used with internet regulation resulted in economic consequences for marginalized communities. A similar attitude toward AI would likely do the same, Bogen added. The White House’s executive order took a “kitchen sink” approach to the matter that was overbroad and will generate a great deal of pushback, Thierer said. Subsequent administrations can easily reverse EOs, Thierer pointed out. Travis Hall, acting associate administrator for NTIA's Office of Policy Analysis, countered that the EO contains many “steam vents” where comments are sought on prospective policies and agencies are given discretion over implementation of rules. AI use and concerns are expanding so quickly that it’s as though policymakers are riding a train while also constructing the tracks, Hall said.

Mattel hires Christopher Farrell, ex-Ahold Delhaize, as executive vice president-chief strategy officer ... GoDaddy taps Jared Sine, ex-Match Group and also former Expedia Group, as chief strategy and legal officer, effective March 18 ... EZ Texting, text communications platform, hires Karbon’s Frank Colich as chief financial officer and adds him to its executive leadership team ... National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President Julie Fedorchak appoints new board members: Michigan Public Service Commissioner Katherine Peretick, Kentucky PSC Commissioner Kent Chandler, Wyoming PSC Commissioner Mary Throne, Idaho Public Utilities Commissioner John Hammond, New Hampshire PUC Commissioner Carleton Simpson, Hawaii PUC Commissioner Leo Asuncion, District of Columbia PSC Commissioner Emile Thompson, Rhode Island PUC Commissioner Ron Gerwatowski and Ohio PUC Commissioner Jenifer French … Connectivity cloud company names board member Mark Anderson, former Alteryx CEO, as president-revenue.

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Thursday hearing on a set of five bills aimed at improving U.S. network security, including the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513), the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The other bills are the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-820), Countering CCP Drones Act (HR-2864), draft Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act and draft Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (Routers) Act. First filed in 2022 (see 2210250067), HR-820 would require the FCC to publish a list of communications companies holding FCC licenses or other authorizations in which China and other foreign adversaries’ governments possess 10% or more ownership. HR-1513, which the House passed during the last Congress (see 2112020050), would direct the FCC to establish a 6G task force to provide recommendations on ensuring U.S. leadership in developing that technology’s standards. HR-2864 would add Chinese drone manufacturer Da-Jiang Innovations to the FCC’s covered entities list. The Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act would require NTIA assessment of “technologies available to increase the security and resiliency” of Taiwan’s communications networks. The Routers Act would have the Commerce Department “specify what transactions involving routers, modems, or devices that combine a modem and a router are prohibited” under then-President Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order, which bars transactions involving information and communications technologies that pose an “undue risk of sabotage to or subversion of” U.S.-based communications services (see 1905150066). “Our communications networks are an integral part of our lives, businesses, economy, and national security,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “As we’ve grown increasingly connected and more reliant on technology, these networks have become a target for adversaries and bad actors. To remain competitive and secure, the U.S. must ensure our communications and technological infrastructure is protected against adversaries, in particular the Chinese Communist Party.” The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

The in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing draft NPRM on the FCC's February agenda would set an overall ISAM licensing framework, but just as important is the NPRM's very existence, space experts tell us. “It's the arrival of ISAM as a serious part of the space economy," said Stephen Ganote, head of the space team at management consultancy Oliver Wyman. A 5-0 approval is likely, space experts say.

Public policy firm Klein/Johnson Group acquires media, tech and telecom advocacy firm Perry Bayliss Government Relations, with the latter’s Steve Perry and Kim Bayliss becoming Klein/Johnson principals (see 2402080057) … Geospatial intelligence company Maxar Intelligence hires former Meta, Apple and Google executive Arvind Srinivasan as chief technology officer ... The Futurum Group, technology advisory, media and research firm, names Techstrong Group's Shira Rubinoff president of its newly formed cybersecurity practice after acquiring her branded cybersecurity assets, including her video series, speakerships and consulting activities.

The FTC won’t postpone its informal hearing on an NPRM on online consumer reviews and testimonials, despite a request from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the agency said Wednesday. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. IAB requested a 30-day extension, also asking the agency to reconsider its conclusion that “there are no disputed issues of material fact necessary to be resolved at the informal hearing." Agencies generally must provide 15 days’ notice in advance of such a hearing, the FTC said, and it published notice of this informal hearing on Jan. 16, 28 days in advance. In the agency’s NPRM, announced in June 2023, the agency concluded there are no "disputed issues of material fact that need to be resolved at an informal hearing.” The FTC has been “very clear” it wants to avoid exposing issues with the new rules that would block “honest opinion and violate the First Amendment,” said IAB Executive Vice President Lartease Tiffith in a statement Thursday. Just as in an informal hearing on the agency’s negative option rule, an administration judge will decide if the agency has met its burden in this case, said Tiffith: The agency is “underestimating the effects of changes to consumer reviews, and the public should have an opportunity to question its assumptions in front of an administrative judge with decision-making power.”

District of Columbia Council members demanded more transparency from Washington’s 911 center about its handling of call-taking and dispatching errors. The D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety Committee held a livestreamed oversight hearing Thursday about the Office of Unified Communications, which has received much scrutiny over incidents where incorrect addresses and miscommunication prompted dispatching delays. A former, longtime OUC employee claimed the office engages in unfair labor practices.

President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. coordinator of international communications and information policy, drew a favorable response from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats during a truncated Thursday confirmation hearing. Steve Lang emphasized the need for U.S. “solidarity with like-minded partners around the world” on communications and cybersecurity issues “to better face the existential challenge from” China and other “countries that don't share our democratic values.” Lang is currently deputy assistant secretary of state-international information and communications policy.

Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (HR-889/S-341) lead Senate sponsor Mark Warner, D-Va., is considering attaching the measure’s language to the House-approved Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (HR-7024) ahead of the upper chamber’s consideration of the package. Lobbyists question whether there’s sufficient momentum for swift action on HR-889/S-341 despite communications industry interest. Meanwhile, a potential bid to allocate $3.08 billion from an FCC reauction of 197 returned AWS-3 licenses to fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2401240001) is unlikely to become part of the 2024 National Security Act supplemental appropriations package but could be a factor in talks for other must-pass legislation this year.

A California appeals court reversed a lower court’s decision to delay a state agency’s enforcement of California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) regulations Friday.