The U.S. Department of Commerce announced reforms to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program aimed at reducing regulatory burdens and supporting tech-neutrality. The BEAD program provides federal dollars to states to help close the broadband gap.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the new guidance for the BEAD program “will deliver high-speed internet access efficiently on a technology-neutral basis, and at the right price.” States will now have to resubmit BEAD applications that reflect the new rules. Coverage of this news can be found in StateScoop.
Thank you for reading! Below, we’ve highlighted additional tech policy news and shared a featured podcast.
This Week in Washington
- Nextgov: The Senate version of reconciliation legislation offers modifications to AI regulation language. While the House bill banned local and state AI regulation outright for 10 years, the Senate version will condition state and local broadband and AI funding on maintaining the regulation moratorium. The prospects for the bill and the moratorium remain unclear.
- CyberScoop: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security released a preliminary FY26 budget reducing spending at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) by $135 million. That number is significantly different from President Trump’s proposed budget, which would cut $495 million from the $2.8 billion agency.
- CNN: The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC’s) $100 billion investment in the United States has had widespread impacts on the U.S. semiconductor packaging industry.
Article Summary
- WHKY: North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announced $58 million in funding for broadband expansion. The program aims to connect more than 10,000 households.
- StateScoop: Hawaii has created a new broadband office that will oversee efforts to expand internet access, provide digital literacy education, and administer federal broadband grants.
- TIME: Oceanographers are using large-scale generative AI to model and track large swaths of the world’s oceans. The models allow scientists to game out complex ecological crises.
- Fortune: AI technology is increasingly used in blue-collar jobs to maximize productivity. The advancements are especially welcome as a disproportionate share of workers reach retirement age.
- CNBC: At Nvidia’s GTC Paris developer conference, CEO Jensen Huang expressed optimism about the future of quantum computing. He argued that the technology will reach usability sooner than currently expected.
Featured Podcast
- Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast
Recorded live at RSAC 2025, this special episode of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast features a panel exploring the psychology and techniques behind nation-state and criminal cyber actors, how Microsoft innovatively uses legal and technical disruption to dismantle threats like Cobalt Strike and Storm-2139, and the growing trend of adversaries leveraging AI. (A Peek Inside Microsoft’s Global Fight Against Cyber Threats – June 11, 2025)