Trump AI Order With BEAD Implications, Praised, Condemned
Experts have strong opinions about President Donald Trump’s Executive Order seeking to withhold BEAD funding from states with “onerous” laws on AI. To win the global AI race, “United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” states the Order.
It takes aim at a “patchwork” of “50 different regulatory regimes that makes compliance more challenging, particularly for start-ups.” That’s why the order directs the Commerce Secretary, “in consultation with the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and the Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President,” publish an evaluation of “existing State AI laws that identifies onerous laws that conflict with the policy set forth in the order.” The list must be produced within 90 days.
States’ tentative broadband deployment grants wouldn’t be affected, according to Broadband Breakfast, but many states are spending less than they were allocated for the program in 2023, partly due to an administration focus on cost cutting. The order aims to make states unable to use their non-deployment funds, expected to total about $21 billion, if their AI regulations were deemed unfavorable to the industry.
The order also impacts the FCC, directing the agency Chairman to initiate a proceeding to determine whether to adopt a federal reporting and disclosure standard for AI models that preempts conflicting state laws. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the order “promotes America’s leadership in AI and advances our nation’s economic and national security interests. It does so by targeting excessive state regulations that would not only hold America back but insert ideological bias into AI models.” He called Trump’s action “decisive” and one that “also ensures a policy framework that protects children, prevents online censorship, respects copyrights, and safeguards communities.”
INCOMPAS, the competitive communications and AI infrastructure association, too, praised the action. INCOMPAS President/CEO Chip Pickering cited the directive in the order “that incentivizes states to ensure the BEAD nondeployment funds aren’t wasted as a result of onerous AI laws.” Pickering explained, “The powerful incentives will create public private partnerships that have long been the cornerstone of America’s economic development. By aligning broadband infrastructure investment with sound AI policy, we can ensure that federal dollars continue to advance America’s technological leadership.”
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society condemned the order, saying it would deny BEAD funds to any state that has established AI consumer protections. The order is “likely unlawful and deeply harmful to the goal Congress set in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: connecting every location in America to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet. This action has the effect of punishing and depriving rural America based on an unrelated policy argument regarding AI regulation,” said Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Executive Director Dr. Revati Prasad.
Prasad continued, “Congress was explicit. BEAD funds are to be distributed to states to support broadband deployment and ‘non-deployment’ activities, such as workforce development, broadband adoption, affordability, and planning. Nowhere did Congress authorize the President to condition those funds on unrelated state policy choices, much less to punish states for exercising their traditional powers to regulate emerging technologies.”
The order directs the attorney general to set up an AI Litigation Task Force within 30 days to challenge state laws, Axios reports. Legal experts told The New York Times the order is likely to be challenged in court by states and consumer groups on the grounds that only Congress has the authority to override state laws.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
