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August 4, 2025

Congress Must Lead on Universal Service Reform

Last week, I was privileged to participate in a panel discussion at the NARUC Summer Policy Summit. Titled “USF in the 21st Century: Where Do We Go From Here?,” the panel was moderated by Nebraska Commissioner Tim Schram and included representatives from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association, and the Computer…

August 1, 2025

AI Tools for Economists and Policy Analysts

New artificial intelligence tools are rapidly transforming how economists and policy analysts conduct research, dissect data, and communicate findings. Rather than replacing traditional research methods, ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are serving as force multipliers, allowing analysts to explore ideas more thoroughly and overcome common bottlenecks in the research process. The Basics As of writing, I…

July 31, 2025

Spectrum at a Crossroads

President Donald Trump recently signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law which, among other action items, restored the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to auction spectrum. Although this authority is now back in place, questions are bound to bubble to the surface—how is this vital resource managed, and by whom? With spectrum powering everyday…

July 31, 2025

Data, Security, and Liberty: What’s at Stake in Federal Consolidation?

On July 16, 2025, AEI hosted an expert panel discussing the critical issues surrounding federal data consolidation and the protection of civil liberties in the digital age. The panel featured Courtney Bowman of Palantir Technologies, Alexandra Reeve Givens of the Center for Democracy & Technology, Daniel Werfel, former US Commissioner of the IRS, and Kim…

July 30, 2025

A Red Team Climate Report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new assessment of climate science written by five scientists who have long-argued that climate science assessments have overlooked key issues.  The report — A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate — was released yesterday accompanying the Trump Administration’s announcement that it was…

July 30, 2025

Letting Tech Companies Assert Their Users’ Online First Amendment Rights Is Vital

It’s increasingly clear how important standing is for asserting online First Amendment speech rights. Last year, the US Supreme Court in Murthy v. Missouri dismissed on standing grounds the claims of two states and five individuals alleging that multiple Biden administration officials unlawfully pressured and coerced social media platforms “to suppress protected speech in violation…

July 29, 2025

The War on Science

An unparalleled group of prominent scholars from wide-ranging disciplines detail ongoing efforts to impose ideological restrictions on science and scholarship throughout western society. From assaults on merit-based hiring to the policing of language and replacing well-established, disciplinary scholarship by ideological mantras, current science and scholarship is under threat throughout western institutions. As this group of…

July 29, 2025

America’s AI Action Plan: Analyzing the Strategy for Global Leadership

Event Summary On July 29, AEI hosted an event examining the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan and its implications for businesses, consumers, and national security. The panel, moderated by AEI’s John Bailey, began with initial reactions to the legislation before diving into its detailed provisions. AEI’s Will Rinehart analyzed impacts on data centers and AI…

July 29, 2025

Taxing and/or Licensing Digital Platforms

Earlier this month, the European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy—Henna Virkkunen—confirmed that the European Union (EU) does not plan to levy fees on Big Tech companies to recover the high costs faced by EU antitrust regulators monitoring and enforcing the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Strong support for such a levy has…

July 29, 2025

The Tea App Breach Shows Why We Can’t Regulate for Openness Without Planning for Security

Last week, a dating safety app called Tea Dating Advice—which allows women to anonymously share dating experiences to keep others safe—was a viral success. It had risen to the top of Apple’s App Store charts and had over 1.6 million users. Just as it appeared poised to become a major tool to advance digital safety,…