Over the past year, major US tech companies have spent more than $350bn on AI-related infrastructure, with projections of over $400bn for 2026. This far exceeds the spending of any other nation — most notably China, where total investment is closer to an estimated $100bn. For many in the West, it may be reassuring that we have companies bold enough and capital markets deep enough to dominate a spending contest. If artificial intelligence is — as prophesied — the one ring to rule them all, then it would seem the west has the future in hand.

That is the optimistic story. Yet there is another possibility: that Silicon Valley’s obsession with AI could mean winning the AI race but losing a broader contest for economic pre-eminence. That follows because the US has gone all-in on AI, while China is spreading its bets across several plausible futures. It all depends on the bet on AI being the right one. Despite all the talk of an existential AI race, China is somewhat less committed to AI than sometimes portrayed. Beijing regularly describes AI as a “national strategic priority” and has invested to avoid falling too far behind. But the state and its major companies are spending much more money to secure dominance in other domains, such as electric vehicles, batteries, robotics, solar panels, wind turbines and other forms of advanced manufacturing. These sectors may be less glamorous, but their returns are far less speculative.

It is the US that is truly infatuated with AI, with investments influenced by goals that are as mystical as they are commercial, especially the pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence and “the singularity”. There is a strong belief in continued exponential progress — a rarity in the history of technology. The deeper one digs, the more otherworldly it becomes, among both AI proponents and doomsayers. The concentrated, monopolized nature of the US tech sector adds to the risk: with so much spending power in so few hands, the danger of groupthink grows.

What to do?

This morning the BEAD Progress Dashboard shows five more states final proposals approved. These approved states are Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Utah.

This means that to-date, 34 states & 3 territories have been NTIA

approved and moved on to NIST. These final proposals account for ~2.29M locations. This leaves 16 states plus the District of Columbia yet to be approved. I know the NTIA and SBOs are burning the midnight oil (great 90s band, check them out) to get these approved by year’s end.

Once again, the OG “fiber-first” BEAD is seeing fiber decline, now at ~64% of BSLs. LEO is at 22.18%. Pessimistically, if LEO doesn’t end up with ANY uptake, that leaves a digital divide of a half a million BSLs. That we know of so far.

FCC Chairman Carr appeared before a Senate oversight committee and faced harsh criticism by Democrats on topics including threats against TV broadcasters.

I’ll start with an important caveat; the Minnesota BEAD Final Proposal has not yet been approved. Subsequently, the information based on that latest proposal is subject to change. The Office of Broadband Development (OBD) gave a nice overview of what’s happening with BEAD and more yesterday. It sounds as if approval is expected any day…

“Digital Equity Unwrapped” – a special livestream bringing together advocates and broadband-for-all leaders who spent 2025 pushing for a more connected and inclusive nation – is slated for next Wednesday, December 17, beginning at 3 pm ET. Attendees will have screen-side seating for a virtual fireside chat with NDIA executive director Angela Siefer and American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) executive director Gigi Sohn, two leaders who have shaped national conversations around broadband, digital inclusion, and local power.

According to Politico, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker is introducing a bill today that would give states access to an estimated $20–$22 billion in remaining BEAD funds.

Politico states the bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2025 – Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty used a speech before the Media Institute on Wednesday to deliver a strong defense of First Amendment principles, even as she affirmed that federal law still grants the FCC authority to regulate broadcast content.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2025 – The Commerce Department’s new rules for its $42.45 billion broadband grant program are subject to Congressional review, a government watchdog found.

The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to nullify agency rules if both chambers pass a resolution to that effect, and requires agencies to submit a copy of any new rule to Congress before it can take effect.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2025 – A Senate oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission veered into unexpected territory Wednesday when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Republican Commissioner Olivia Trusty denied the agency’s status as an independent regulatory body.

Canada's Rogers Communications has launched Rogers Satellite, a direct-to-device service that is initially connected to Starlink's LEO satellite constellation, with Lynk Global on deck.

About six months after the start of beta trials, Rogers Communications has pushed ahead with the commercial launch of Rogers Satellite, a direct-to-device (D2D) service that is being marketed to Rogers' own mobile customers and consumers who get mobile services from other Canadian carriers. 

Rogers Satellite is initially connecting via Starlink's growing constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Rogers is also partnered with Lynk Global for the D2D service but has not announced when that part will be activated.

As 2025 showed, cable ops are upgrading their DOCSIS networks, and plans are underway to go beyond DOCSIS 4.0.

It's clear that cable operators are going with fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) in most greenfield deployments, including organic edge-outs and government-subsidized builds. But operators are choosing advanced forms of DOCSIS in their widely deployed hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks, except in rare cases such as Altice USA's ongoing fiber build in the Northeast and VMO2's fiber overlay in the UK. 

Cable operators' decisions are being determined by cost and performance metrics. It simply remains too expensive for cable operators to upgrade tens of millions of locations to passive optical networking (PON) and FTTP when they can upgrade their DOCSIS networks for a fraction of the cost and still deliver enough speed to keep pace with most competitive fiber options. 

The Berrien County Broadband Project, an effort by the county and several partners to expand the availability of broadband internet in the community, is this year’s recipient of the Graham Woodhouse Intergovernmental Effort Award from the Southwest

The legal firewall is gone. A 2024 court ruling just made your AI a direct liability.

In November, I exposed the AI Deregulation Gambit as a strategic liability. Recently, I detailed how this plays out in practice through AI-driven defamation and misattribution—where algorithms weaponize unverified narratives.

Now, a 2024 legal ruling makes the liability from both scenarios legally enforceable. The “AI made me do it” defense is bankrupt.

"The case was simple: A customer asked Air Canada’s chatbot about bereavement fares. The AI hallucinated, inventing a non-existent discount. The customer, relying on this information, bought a ticket. When Air Canada refused to honor the chatbot’s promise, the customer sued."

The corporation deployed the standard playbook: Deny, Deflect, Delay. They argued the chatbot was a “separate legal entity” and that customers shouldn’t trust its information.

The tribunal’s response was a watershed moment:

With rumors swirling about a possible rescission on what NTIA is referring to as “savings,” of BEAD remaining (non-deployment) funds, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R – MS) introduced a bill today to rectify that. The SUCCESS for BEAD Act would ensure

that states maintain remaining ‘non-deployment’ funds for each state’s individual use. SUCCESS is an acronym for Supporting U.S. Critical Connectivity and Economic Strategy and Security. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R - WV) and Environment and Public Works Chair.

The House companion to this bill will be led by Rep. Andy Barr (R - KY).

Why the excess funds in the first place?

Verizon is promising faster speeds and service-level agreements via a new '5G Network Slice – Enhances Internet' product targeted to enterprises.

The TikTok sale is officially happening, with a consortium of American investors set to take over U.S. operations of the video platform next month on Jan. 22, 2026.

The deal means that TikTok, the fast-growing social video platform that upended the strategies of competitors like YouTube and Meta Platforms Inc., will have a new joint venture owner in the U.S.: TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.

The new U.S. operations of TikTok will have three “managing investors” that will collectively own 45 percent of the company: Oracle Corporation, Silver Lake, and MGX (Abu Dhabi’s state investment firm). Another 5 percent will be owned by other new investors, 30.1 percent will be “held by affiliates of certain existing investors of ByteDance; and 19.9 percent will be retained by ByteDance.”

The FCC now serves political interests instead of the public, former agency officials said.

With a soft rollout underway, Midco plans to commercially launch its mobile service in 2026 with by-the-gig and unlimited plans.

"We've had users test it around the country and are pleased with the reliability," said a Midco official in an emailed statement. "Our marketing launch will be phased by market and coordinated with fiber upgrade communications, so it will be a rolling process throughout 2026 even though the product will be available throughout the Midco footprint." 

WISPA and several rural operators have asked the FCC to refrain from relocating current users of the CBRS band and outlined the risks of relocation.