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).
The FCC defended its decision to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act in a reply brief to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday (docket 24-7000). It argued the court's decision staying the order pending review was done "without showing adequate statutory support." Moreover, the motions panel lacked "the benefit of the full briefing presented here" (see 2408130001).
Attorneys, academics and First Amendment experts told us that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s calls for ABC to lose its license over Tuesday's presidential debate telecast (see 2409110058) are nonsensical and that government action against a broadcaster would likely ultimately fail. In addition, some said presidential calls for action against broadcasters over their reporting aren’t unprecedented. “All political players tend to do this when it suits them,” said veteran First Amendment attorney Robert Corn-Revere, now chief counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “None of them have the constitutional authority to back it up.”
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. Lawsuits added since the last update are marked with an *.
The growing pace of launches in the U.S. is stressing launch site capabilities, particularly Florida's Cape Canaveral, launch operators said Wednesday at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce aerospace conference in Washington. Meanwhile, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said SpaceX could pose a monopolistic threat in commercial space and that more competition is needed. In addition, the FAA was criticized for its launch regulatory regime.
Carriers have a long history of using statistical methods and machine learning when analyzing their networks, but generative AI means a “step function in capabilities,” Raj Savoor, AT&T vice president-network analytics and automation, said Wednesday during an RCR Wireless webinar. However, another speaker warned of “lazy” AI.
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday the FCC should revoke Disney-owned ABC’s licenses after what many observers considered his poor presidential debate performance Tuesday night against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ nominee. Trump has repeatedly said broadcast networks and other entities should lose their ‘licenses’ over their coverage of him, including January comments that NBC and CNN are “crooked” and should “have their licenses or whatever they have taken away” (see 2401170050). Harris and Trump, the Republicans’ presidential nominee, briefly traded barbs during the evening about the U.S. tech leadership position with China.
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).
Google abused its dominant position in several European online search markets and must pay a fine of about $2.7 billion (2.4 billion euros), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Tuesday. The decision is a "pivotal shift" in how digital companies are regulated, said EC Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager at a briefing. It highlights the power of EU competition law, some observers said. Google termed the ruling disappointing. The European Commission determined the amount of the fine.
The FCC and other parties that Standard General and founder Soohyung Kim accuse of participating in a racist conspiracy to torpedo the company's $8.6 billion purchase of Tegna (see 2404250059) are urging dismissal of Standard's suit. Multiple defendants argued in motions to dismiss Monday that Standard's suit before the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia is in the wrong court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in April denied a Standard/Tegna petition for writ of mandamus aimed at pushing the FCC to move on review and approval of the deal (see 2304210058).