White House Releases AI Action Plan

The White House issued its much-anticipated AI Action Plan. The Plan lays out three key pillars focused on AI innovation, infrastructure, and diplomacy and security. Coverage on this development can be found from CyberScoop and CNET.

In conjunction with the Plan’s release, President Trump also signed three AI Executive Orders (EOs), which in part aim to streamline federal permitting for energy infrastructure and promote U.S. AI overseas. For more on the EOs, see Nextgov/FCW.

Thank you for reading. Below, we’ve rounded up more tech policy news and shared a featured podcast. 

This Week in Washington

  • Axios: UN Secretary-General António Guterres called attention to the growing energy demands of AI innovation. In a Tuesday address, he noted that AI data centers are on track to consume more energy than Japan by 2030 and called for sustainable energy development in preparation. 
     
  • Broadband Breakfast: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved proposals for BEAD deployment from all 56 states and territories, following revised guidance released last month from Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. The programs can now begin selecting providers to receive funds.  
     
  • Broadband Communities: On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Arielle Roth as the new Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Roth, a former staffer for Senator Ted Cruz, will now be responsible for the $42.25 billion the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program plans to distribute to states this year. 
     
  • CNBC: OpenAI will open an office in DC in 2026, the company announced on Monday. The new facility will include laboratory space for nonprofit leaders and policymakers to test the newest AI innovations

Article Summary

  • K-12 Dive: A new report found 130 ransomware attacks against educational institutions in the last six months, a 23% increase from the first half of 2024. The ransomware attacks demanded an average of $556,000, with one hack of an education software company, PowerSchool, demanding $2.85 million.
     
  • StateScoop: After a report last year indicated that 9% of American water systems have cybersecurity vulnerabilities, New York has launched a new set of cybersecurity requirements for water and wastewater utilities. The state also announced a $2.5 million grant program to help utility companies meet the new standards.
     
  • Daily Montanan: The University of Utah is using AI models to calculate the magnitudes of small earthquakes, increasing the accuracy of earthquake measurement and producing four times the level of measurement currently available.  

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