▶ 0:07:48Subcommittee will come to order. The chair recognizes himself for an opening statement. Good morning and welcome to today's subcommittee hearing on examining artificial intelligence and how it is being used in communications technology industries. AI is top of mind right now, not just in this country, but all over the globe.
▶ 0:08:06It's been used in different industries for many years, but recent advancements in large language models, machine learning, and generative AI have pushed this technology into the spotlight, uh, capturing public attention and forever transforming how we live and how we work. The applications for this new technology are widespread, and we're continuing to find new ways that AI can be used to benefit Americans lives. Whether you know it or not, almost everyone uses AI in our daily lives.
▶ 0:08:35like when you use chat GPT to create a shopping list or ask Siri for directions or even more specifically um when you called the ride share to get here this morning. It uses AI to find the fastest route based on traffic patterns. Your cell phone provider uses AI to reduce harmful spectrum interference on your phone, ensuring there's no lapse in service.
▶ 0:08:58The entertainment industry uses AI to predict what types of content viewers may enjoy and drives decisions on uh on when that content should be produced. It's being used to develop content and enhance the editing process. Our military uses AI to enhance efficiency with encrypted communications and perfect precision with drones uh like we've seen in the war in Ukraine.
▶ 0:09:21Even the National Football League uses AI to create the perfect schedule to limit unnecessary travel for players, create an even playing field for teams, and maximize fan accessibility for the biggest games. As demand for AI grows, we must consider what physical infrastructure will be required to continue advanced AI development. Storage capacity and energy consumption demands at data centers are expected to skyrocket by 2030 due to increased AI use.
▶ 0:09:48As data capacity increases, we will need robust fiber optics and wireless connectivity to ensure powerful new AI systems can reach their fullest potential and enable every industry to grow. But the United States is not the only country developing advanced AI. China recently released its DeepSk AI model which showed their advancements. Our adversaries will stop at nothing to undermine our leadership and technological advancement and utilize AI to threaten our very way of life.
▶ 0:10:15We must continue to innovate and develop to prevent that from happening. Competition in AI is a global issue and it is an imperative that the United States maintains its leadership. To do this, our country and Congress must encourage an environment where AI companies can innovate, compete, and excel on the global stage.
▶ 0:10:34Just like the light regulatory touch that gave rise to the internet and some of the most successful and cutting edge companies on the planet, AI must be given the same opportunity to ensure American companies set the standard for the rest of the world. This is an exciting time and an opportunity to talk about these issues. Navigating these new and evolving technologies will not be without its challenges, but it's our job to meet them head on. Innovation has provided untold benefits to Americans and to our economy.
▶ 0:11:03Today, we will hear from our witnesses about how artificial intelligence is being used across the communications and technology industries, as well as what is required for the United States to maintain its leadership in developing AI models. I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today about uh these issues and how Congress can stand ready as a partner. I now recognize the ranking member, the gentle lady from California for her opening statement. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:11:30I'm glad we're holding this hearing today as connectivity and artificial intelligence go hand in hand. Already AI is a part of everyday lives. From improving GPS driving directions to extending the battery life of our cell phones and preventing network outages. As the AI evolves, it will transform how we communicate, improve network resiliency, defending against cyber attacks, and supercharging connectivity for consumers and businesses.
▶ 0:11:57To realize AI full potential and ensure AI benefits us all and not just a few, we must act with urgency to close the digital divide by investing in the infrastructure and skilled workforce that underpins AI success. Unfortunately, the Trump administration would rather play pay lip service to American AI leadership than act.
▶ 0:12:19The reality is that they are undermining this exact goal by derailing our AI supply chain with tariffs, gutting our AI talent pipeline by attacking universities and slashing research dollars, and weakening our AI infrastructure by freezing federal broadcasting funding. Universal connectivity is the building block for universal AI access.
▶ 0:12:42This includes the fiber networks that provide reliable, scalable, and high-speed connections for AI applications to process large amounts of data. To achieve this, we must act quickly and fully carry out our federal broadband programs to connect the tens of millions of Americans who still li lack access to high-speed internet. And that's why I'm alarmed that the president continues to sabotage a $42 billion broadband equity access and deployment or bead program.
▶ 0:13:13Bead is a once in a generation investment from Congress to expand affordable broadband. States are at the one yard line ready to reach the end zone and get shovels in the ground. But for almost six months, the Trump administration has put bead on ice blocking our states from connecting more Americans. all while threatening to waste even more time with rule changes that would undo the work our states have already accomplished.
▶ 0:13:39To make matters worse, President Trump is weakening our AI workforce through his cancellation of nearly $3 billion in digital equity grants. Congress established these grants with bipartisan support to provide communities with the digital literacy skills, training, and technology to reap the full benefits of online access.
▶ 0:14:01President Trump's attack on digital equity funds, including trying to cancel California's $70 million grant is leaving behind our most vulnerable communities, including rural Americans, seniors, Americans with disabil disabilities, and veterans. This is unacceptable. To be the global AI leader, American also must lead on setting common sense guard rails for responsible and safe AI.
▶ 0:14:28Otherwise, we will harm innovation by damaging consumer trust and weakening protections for a fair, open, and competitive playing field where AI technologies flourish. I have long championed policies that advance US leadership in AI and other emerging technologies. This includes strengthening AI infrastructure from fiber and wireless connectivity to our semiconductor supply chain.
▶ 0:14:54I've also worked to preserve our state's roles in laboratories of democracy to provide us critical insight on AI policies where innovation and competition thrive alongside common sense safeguards. Now is the time to learn from our states and work on bipartisan solutions to advance innovation and empower all Americans to access the benefits of AI.
▶ 0:15:19And that's why the 10-year AI state moratorum that my Republican colleagues jammed through in their reconciliation bill is so misguided and dangerous. We can't afford a 10-year hold on our state's ability to identify and protect the American people from AI specific harms.
▶ 0:15:40not when AI is developing rapidly and spreading to all parts of our lives and especially not without strong federal AI safe guard rails in place. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about how we can strengthen our AI leadership. And with that, I yield the balance of my time. Thank you. I now recognize the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Kentucky for five minutes for his opening statement.
▶ 0:16:04Thank you uh Chairman Hudson and thank you Ranking Member Matsui for bringing us together for this important uh hearing and thank the witnesses for all of you for being here and for your participation. I look forward to hearing about all the ways the artificial intelligence is currently being used and the promise that AI holds for the future. AI is a top priority for the energy and commerce committee this year.
▶ 0:16:24committee's jurisdiction covers almost every layer of the AI tech stack from energy needed to power massive amounts of computing power to the fiber optic cable and wireless connections needed to move the data through interconnected networks to the data itself which underpins innumerable lines of code that together form the modeling needed to generate outputs for the consumer and commercial application of AI technologies.
▶ 0:16:49We started this Congress by holding multiple subcommittee hearings related to AI regulation and use cases spanning all the industries under this committee's jurisdiction, including the committee's first full committee hearing on the existential opportunities and risks of AI technology.
▶ 0:17:06Today's hearing will focus on AI and the communications and te technology sectors where we are committed to supporting the development of this transformational technology and to ensuring that American innovation continues to set the global standard for advanced networking and connectivity. When chat GPT came roaring into everyday life in 2022, it provided a clear accessible example of the power of AI for everyday consumer use.
▶ 0:17:34While it is a fantastic tool, it is only one of example of how AI can be used. And there are many ways that AI technologies have been deployed over the last couple of decades to support other applications. For example, some applications use AI technologies to detect and prevent spam robocalls. So hearing this going up, that's why I wasn't here at the very beginning, two floors above us.
▶ 0:17:58A lot of times when we go home, we come back, most people around here say, "What are you hearing back home?" I can tell you robocalls is one of the number one priorities of everything going on in this Congress and this country. Robocalls are one and spam is used to prevent uh I mean AI technology used to prevent the spam robocalls and there are other areas uh to implementing sophisticating cyber security systems to prevent secure consumer and to prevent and secure consumer data.
▶ 0:18:26Law enforcement officers and other first responders in the field can utilize real-time language translation to help assist people facing language barriers. Even today, music artist Randy Travis is taking full advantage of AI after suff suffering a stroke that reduced his ability to sing and speak. He used AI tools to recreate his own voice from his own recordings to continue producing new music. I firmly believe that we are beginning to uncover the possibilities that AI has to offer.
▶ 0:18:56America is uniquely positioned to continue innovating as a global leader in this sector. But this requires a commitment on our part. It is vitally important that we hear from industry experts that has enabled AI technology to develop rapidly and how we can allow AI to continue to thrive in America while addressing potential risk along the way.
▶ 0:19:18At the same time, our adversaries are also developing cutting edge AI technologies in an effort to capture global technological dominance. We cannot allow countries that do not share our values to lead in technology as important as this. As I've said before, we do not secure a if we do not secure AI leadership, China will fill the void. Europe's not going to fill the void.
▶ 0:19:43They made decisions in their energy policy and their regulatory policy to eliminate themselves from this transformational technology that improves the quality of life of the people that live in in in our in our societies. And we need to do it correctly. And if we see development of AI technologies to China, which as a nation does not share the same ethical values we do, we will also see the ability to shape future development of these technologies in a free and democratic society.
▶ 0:20:13As such, it's important that we take a measured approach and strike the right balance between facilitating innovation and providing principled guard rails were needed to address gaps in current law. As we have seen with Europe's approach, as I said, on everything from energy production to data privacy, imposing heavy-handed regulation on AI stifles innovation and stunts economic growth.
▶ 0:20:37If we can get this right, and we have to do this together, there is no limit to American innovation and artificial intelligence or the benefits it will unlock for all Americans. I really appreciate our witnesses for being here. Mr. Pickering, welcome back to Energy and Commerce Committee. I'm not sure there's any member here that on our side of the aisle that served when you were here, but uh that wasn't that long ago, but uh but thank you for maybe Mr. Lata might have served the same time you did.
▶ 0:21:02But anyway, we really appreciate you being here and all of you being here and we look forward to your testimony and I yield back. Thank you, chairman. I now recognize the gentleman from New Jersey, the ranking member for five minutes for his opening statement. You notice, Chip, that he said only there may not be a Republican, but there definitely is a me, but in any case, um, we've now had numerous hearings this Congress on artificial intelligence, and we've heard about the benefits and risks of AI.
▶ 0:21:30And while we continue to hold hearings and debate the need to adopt common sense guard rails to protect consumers from bad actors using AI, some states have already moved forward and adopted these laws providing basic consumer protections from the negative consequences of some uses of AI. But instead of learning from what the states are doing, House Republicans last month passed a 10-year ban on a state's ability to enforce their own laws protecting consumers from AI's harms.
▶ 0:21:58And this provision, which was included in the budget reconciliation, is nothing more than a giant gift to big tech. And I I hope I'm a you know, we're working to see if we can get uh the Senate parliamentarian to rule this out of order under the so-called bird bath. But that's not because of the Republicans efforts, because of the Democrats efforts. And I would it the problem is that this provision would block enforcement of laws on the books right now that are protecting consumers from re real world harms.
▶ 0:22:28Some states have laws requiring companies to disclose when they're using AI. Others have laws protecting against the use of deep fakes and elections and protecting consumers when AI is used in healthcare, education, housing, and employment. Now, Republicans want to ban the enforcement of all these state laws with absolutely no national bill ready to go to address these concerns.
▶ 0:22:48Instead of enriching big tech, we should be working towards strong federal legislation to govern and guide the development of these powerful AI systems, which are rapidly being incorporated into more and more aspects of our everyday lives. The Trump administration also continues to undermine our progress in building the connectivity infrastructure needed to power the AI models of today and tomorrow. For no good reason, the administration continues to stand still in rolling out one of the key demands of AI, and that's fiber.
▶ 0:23:17Broadband programs designed to bring high-capacity fiber to both data centers and our homes are critical if America wants to continue to lead the world in AI. Any delays in connecting every home and business to reliable high-speed internet only benefits our foreign adversaries. America's strength comes from our ability to build and deploy the most advanced technology here and then share it with the rest of the world. But this can't happen if everyone in America does not have high-speed internet access.
▶ 0:23:46And I therefore urge the Trump administration to get out of its own way and let the bipartisan infrastructure laws 42 billion be program move forward as intended, letting the states deploy networks that are fast, reliable, and can meet the technological demands for decades to come. Now, I also have to acknowledge that simply bringing the internet American to American homes will not allow us to lead the world in AI. To complete the task, Americans need to understand how to use AI.
▶ 0:24:14And that's why House Democrats voted to include the Digital Equity Act as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. This act funds programs that can help seniors, veterans, the disabled, and others learn the skills needed to fully participate in our digital economy. Yet, in the last couple of weeks, President Trump unilaterally and illegally, in my opinion, decided to stop the funding for these programs, falsely claiming that they are racist.
▶ 0:24:39I can't stress teaching grandparents and veterans disabled how to use AI, as well as protect themselves from scams and scheduling doctor appointments and applying for jobs online has nothing to do with race. The Digital Equity Act recognizes the digital divide and it's not a it's not a a racial divide.
▶ 0:24:59I mean, there's an element of a racial divide certainly, but it's it's because there's so many people who were seniors and veterans and disabled regardless of their race or ethnicity that need to know how to use it. Uh it has nothing to do with race. Um and uh it it's just unfortunate that the administration is doing this. Last thing I wanted to say, Mr.
▶ 0:25:20chairman is while we still need guard rails to govern and guide the development of AI, there's no question that AI has the potential to advance how our communications networks serve the public. For instance, AI models can be deployed in our networks to help enhance resiliency and reliability so that when natural disasters hit or other life-threatening events occur, Americans can rapidly assess the damage and quickly get the help they need. And that's why it's crucial that we fund the deployment of next generation 911 across the country.
▶ 0:25:49Again, it's a shame that the House Republicans want to use Spectrum auction proceeds to fund this giant tax giveaway for billionaires and big corporations instead of helping fund Next Generation 911, which is obviously what I've been pleading all along. That's what that's where we should be using that $88 billion in spectrum auction and not to pay for the uh well, you call it what do you call it? The big beautiful bill. I call it the big ugly bill. And with that, I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 0:26:18the Thank you. We've now concluded with member opening statements. Chair reminds members that pursuant to the committee rules, all members opening statements will be made part of the record. We'd like to thank our witnesses for being here today to testify before the subcommittee. Our witnesses will have five minutes to provide an opening statement which will be followed by a round of question by members.
▶ 0:26:41The witnesses here before us today are Chip Pickering, chief executive officer of Encompass and uh former member of this committee as has been noted. Welcome back. Um Ronnie Vasicha, senior vice president of telecom for Nvidia. Thank you for being here. Jim Shay, chief executive officer for Deep Sig Incorporated. Thank you, sir.
▶ 0:27:05and Assad Ram Zanali, uh, director of AI and technology policy, Vanderbilt policy accelerator at Vanderbilt University. I believe you've been in this room before, too, but glad to have you back. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Pickering, you are recognized for five minutes for an opening statement. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Matt Suie, Chairman Guthrie, to all the members on the on the committee.
▶ 0:27:30It is great to to to be back to what I consider my my home where I served for 10 years on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I love this committee. I love it and respect deeply the role that it plays in this institution and in setting the policies, the critical policies of this country. I'm the CEO of Encompass and and to talk a little bit about who we are and who I represent. We are the founding voice of competition and network policy.
▶ 0:27:59We advocated over 40 years ago for the break up of the AT&T monopoly system, bringing the first competition to the telecommunication networks and then as we went into the 90s and into the the current age, competition across all networks and in the internet. And today we have assembled something that is different than and unique from all other associations in our our space.
▶ 0:28:23We now have members that are new energy companies, new SMR nuclear uh fusion companies, traditional gas and gas pipeline, trai transmission and grid companies that are on one side of the data center and we have all the stack of data centers from small to regional to hypers scale. And then we have all of the the broadband networks from fiber to fix to wireless to satellite LEO systems.
▶ 0:28:48And then on the other side of the market, we have all of the leading American technology companies, but we also have the new entrance, the new startups, the innovators, the entrepreneurs that are creating the new AI models. So, both on the model side and on the the a what we now call AI infrastructure on both sides of the data center. And we think that makes us uniquely credible. We to be honest, we've tried to create a membership that matches your jurisdiction.
▶ 0:29:13You are the only committee in all of Congress that is on both sides of the data center and has the jurisdiction on all of the major elements and questions of AI policy. And you have a serious obligation and responsibility to get this right. We are now in a a race against China to win the future of an AI economy, an AIdriven national security and cyber security.
▶ 0:29:42And we need a national framework of AI policy on each of the major questions to win that race. And so today I would I would want to start a conversation of how do we do that and how do we we win that race and there are two major objectives. One is to maximize competition among all models because as you maximize competition you'll get the greatest investment and the greatest innovation in this race.
▶ 0:30:08Unlike what we faced in the in the World War II and the nuclear race and in the Cold War, the space race, those were federal government funded initiatives. The AI race is primarily funded by the private sector and private actors. And so what we need to do is to give the predictability and the certainty of a national framework so that the investments made to win that race will be made without a patchwork of unpredictability and uncertainty.
▶ 0:30:39We need to be able to to build this is the time to build the infrastructure of a new age that will bring back American manufacturing and bring enormous benefits in every sector of our economy and for the health care, education and workforce of our country. And to do that, we need to build as fast as possible.
▶ 0:30:58We need bipartisan permitting reform to clear the obstacles that delay and cost our companies who are building fiber, wireless, satellite companies, who are building the data centers, and who are building the new energy and the new energy supply and the transmission and grid that we need to power AI. So, I fully support the speed to bead and the need to get the shovels in the ground to build the broadband uh networks.
▶ 0:31:24We need to to infuse through spectrum auction authority new spectrum into the marketplace. We need to do everything that that that we can to to close the digital divide. And so, Congressman Joyce and working on a bipartisan basis, how do we build fiber networks across the railroad so that we can close the digital divide without the railroad industry holding us up, delaying us, and charging exorbitant prices.
▶ 0:31:51It is critical that in most communities that you have to still cross the tracks to reach the the full community and to close the digital divide. In the Senate, there's a piece of legislation that'll make sure that BE is not taxed. So, we don't need to tax the broadband grants and defeat the purpose of the the deployments to every corner of the country.
▶ 0:32:16Finally, the uh encompass uh fully supports the effort of this committee in creating a national framework to have a pause or temporary moratorum that would give you the time that you need to form a national framework around all AI issues.
▶ 0:32:36I want to commend Congressman Obernalty and Congressman Louu and the bipartisan workforce that has created a set of recommendations in one of the most extensive reports in Congress and the leadership on a bipartisan basis.
▶ 0:32:49The moratorum is simply a means that we don't have a thousand state actions that could slow delay the investments we need on both sides of the data centers and the full models in the full stack of the AO AI ecosystem. committee has had a rich history from 1934 bringing telephone service to every American, electricity to every American and an internet infrastructure and internet age.
▶ 0:33:19Every time it was this committee in this room that made those policies. And we need this committee under present bipartisan leadership to find a way to create the national framework so that we win the race and bring all the benefits and secure our national security and America's future. And I look forward to working with everyone to that purpose and to that end. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. You are recognized for five minutes for an opening statement.
▶ 0:33:50Thank you very much, Chairman Hudson, ranking member Matt Suie. Thank you for and members of subcommittee. Thank you very much for the invitation to speak to you today. As said, my name is Ronnie Vasister and I'm senior vice president of telecom at Nvidia. Nvidia, as you may know, is an American full stack accelerated computing company. Proud to be helping drive American technology leadership globally.
▶ 0:34:16We have spent over three decades inventing the technology that powers modern AI. As you've heard from the members opening statements today, AI is not just another app or algorithm. It is the engine behind a new industrial revolution.
▶ 0:34:35And just like the roads and electric grids of the past, the countries that build AI infrastructure will reap the rewards of this next era. At this critical point in time, there is also the need to redefine telecommunications infrastructure around the world as well by leveraging AI.
▶ 0:35:00The convergence between AI and telecoms presents an unprecedented opportunity for renewed US leadership globally. But we must act quickly. Over the last few decades, the telecom industry has evolved through generations of techn of standards known as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G.
▶ 0:35:27And the industry is working, as you may suspect, on 6G with a target completion date of 2030. Now, while 2030 might sound like a long time to go, we're actually already the train has left the station and we're time. The early deployments of 6G may start as early as 2028.
▶ 0:35:53What is already clear is that whoever seizes the advantage in the development and the deployment of AI native 6G will win the 6G race. The United States invented the foundational cellular wireless technology.
▶ 0:36:13But today there are no there are no American wireless equipment Now is the time to act to regain the US leadership in 6G and AI offers a number of advantages for the wireless industry.
▶ 0:36:31First, AI can be applied to network operations to increase energy efficiency to enhance security to improve network resiliency and very importantly increase spectral Second, future networks will additionally support in an entirely new kind of traffic, not just voice, video, and data, but AI traffic, the control and connectivity, autonomous vehicles, glasses,
▶ 0:37:01robotics, and many more applications that we have yet to think of. Third, putting wireless processing and AI on the same infrastructure that has never been done before will enable new economic opportunities for Telos. AI networks need to be softwaredefined.
▶ 0:37:23This will enable the same infrastructure to underpin both the telecommunications infrastructure and the AI infrastructure. New features and generations and new standards of wireless, think of this, will be software updates rather than the requirement to completely overhaul in telecom infrastructure. And fourth, AI will enable enhanced cyber security for telecom networks.
▶ 0:37:52AI is essential for real-time threat detection and automated remediation and incident response. As heard, AI can process massive data streams, can quickly identify and neutralize attacks, whether they are occurring on a device or at the network edge or in the cloud.
▶ 0:38:17This convergence of AI and wireless infrastructure will fundamentally reshape the global landscape. Nvidia is working closely and actively with partners across industry and academia to provide the tools and platforms and to drive American innovation for this global ecosystem.
▶ 0:38:45Just for an example, in the last couple of days, we've been here with other me other members of the AI win project which was announced in just March of this year. Booze Allen Hamilton, Cisco, MITER, the Oran Development Company, and T-Mobile. We're all working together to enable this US leadership.
▶ 0:39:06This project will deliver American AI native softwaredefined and secure wireless platform that will enable that US leadership in 6G. But ensuring lead US leadership in next generation wireless networks requires industry and public sector to work together.
▶ 0:39:31Congress in the US government can help ensure this leadership by supporting R&D and continued innovation by working with US companies together as we set and place our requirements into universal global standards and enabling and promoting US companies to win at every layer of the AI infrastructure stack.
▶ 0:40:00I am confident that together we can maintain US leadership in AI and regain leadership in wireless communications through the development and global deployment of AI native wireless telecommunications networks. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today and I look forward to all your questions. Thank you very much. Mr. Shay, you're recognized for five minutes.
▶ 0:40:33Chairman Hudson, ranking member Matsui, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you and testify today. I am Jim Sheay, CEO of Deep Sig, a small business, bringing artificial intelligence software for wireless communications and sensing to market. Today, I outline how AI is transforming 5G, enabling superior spectrum management, and providing essential capabilities for national defense and everyday applications. Deep SIG Inc. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, was founded by in 2016 by me and Dr.
▶ 0:41:02Tim O'Shea to evolve and bring to market AI wireless technology that Tim developed at Virginia Tech. The company's 48 employees are focused on delivering AI sensing and communications software to meet commercial and defense needs. Working with partners such as Intel, Nvidia, and Qualcomm, Deep Sigs AI based Omnifi software replaces traditional wireless processing algorithms with AI and 5G systems.
▶ 0:41:25When you make a call, the signal from your mobile travels to a base station, often reflecting off of multiple buildings and obstacles while competing with interfering signals. Traditional wireless algorithms employ a simplified one-sizefitsall approach to pull signals out of noise. AI, on the other hand, can learn the local wireless environment by monitoring receive signals to rapidly develop AI models that better sort signals from noise and impairments, dramatically improving spectrum efficiency and reducing drop calls.
▶ 0:41:55The breakthrough is this breakthrough extends to 5G mass of myo technology. Flat panel antennas that focus wireless signals at individual users. Traditional massive myimo algorithms use a library of fixed antenna beams, but AI can learn the best beam shapes and directions for each user to optimize performance and the user experience. Taken together, these and other AI technologies are referred to as AI wireless native wireless. AI native is seen as a key enabling capability in 6G as it evolves through the standardization process.
▶ 0:42:24US leadership in AI native coupled with open RAN access OAN that replaces custom hardware with commodity service servers will dramatically reduce cost and offer a path to compete with Huawei and other concerning network vendors. AI is enabling rapid sensing of the wireless environment. Traditional sensing approaches are painfully slow and require significant analysis by skilled engineers and weeks or months of effort to develop new code when new signals are encountered.
▶ 0:42:51Deep SIG Omni Deep Sigs Omni FI OmniG Ice Sensing Software has been trained to detect, classify, and locate nearly all types of signals ranging from narrowband handheld radios to wideband radars, often up to a thousand times faster than traditional approaches. Like other AI systems, Omni can learn new signals in a matter of hours after being presented with new signal data. Exponentially increasing mobile data needs for consumers. Industrial and defense applications require more wireless spectrum.
▶ 0:43:19Sharing with DoD and other incumbent users is understudy, but only on a limited basis. The CBRS band shares spectrum US Navy shipbased radars. However, new proposed bands have incumbent ground and airborne users that move far faster than oceanbased ships. With the integration of AI, rapid detection can inform commercial networks to vacate or steer wireless beams away from the incumbent user. Another important application involves addressing wireless intrusion and base station spoofing.
▶ 0:43:46Persistent persistent and growing threats concern both network owners and the government due to their increasing scale and sophistication. By continuous monitoring the spectrum, AI can detect fake base stations such as those were discovered last month in Turkey that were covertly transmitting information about logo weaguer population back to China. Finally, as we've seen in Ukraine, spectrum sensing and other electronic warfare capabilities where the US must regain leadership to protect our forces.
▶ 0:44:12Adversaries continually change their signals and can only be countered by timely detection. The ability to quickly learn new signals is paramount to ensure our defense systems can quickly respond to threats. Small innovative businesses such as Deep Sig deliver off-the-shelf AI software and accelerate accelerating the likes of Andre, CACI, Lockhe Martin and other partners, giving them the ability to respond to rapidly changing threats. Leadership in AI native and wireless sensing technologies offers the US a path to reclaim global leadership in mobile wireless technology.
▶ 0:44:43A special thank you to this committee for your leadership in helping the NTI public wireless supply chain innovation fund become a reality. Deeps has been honored to receive three grants in partnership with Airspan, Qualcomm and Fujitsu and is rapidly advancing our AR software into 5G and 6G to take part in the resurgence of US wireless leadership. The convergence of AI wireless represents a transform transformative moment.
▶ 0:45:08The United States has been the innovative ecosystem, talent and industrial partnerships necessary to lead this transformation. Working together, American industry and government can ensure that the next generation of wireless infrastructure and sensing technology is made in America. Thank you for providing me the opportunity to testify and I would be happy to answer any questions that the committee members may have. Thank you. Thank you. Very well said and on time. U Mr. Ramsanali, you are recognized for five minutes for your opening statement.
▶ 0:45:38Chairman Guthrie and Hudson, ranking members Palone and Matts Suie, members of the subcommittee, thank you for holding this important hearing and having me back to this room. My name is Assad Ramanali and I'm the director of AI and tech policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator. I previously worked in the tech industry and in government, including for a member of this subcommittee. My testimony reflects my own views and does not represent Vanderbilt or anybody else. Today, I'll speak to three things. First, I'll share a framework for analyzing the whole picture of AI.
▶ 0:46:08Then, I'll describe how to achieve long-term American leadership in AI. And finally, I'll describe this committee's history in enacting guard rails to mitigate real harms from powerful technologies. To understand AI, many use the framework of a technological stack. My written testimony illustrates one version of that with four layers on how AI is used and developed. It's applications, models, cloud computing, and chips. Let me go through that.
▶ 0:46:37Applications like chatbots are what you use. They sit a top models, which are large pieces of software that operate in cloud computing data centers that are full of chips, often specialized for AI. Of interest to this subcommittee, those data centers are connected to high fi high capacity fiber. This framework helps illustrate that each layer has distinct features and can be analyzed for its distinct policy questions and has known policy solutions.
▶ 0:47:04Second, American leadership in AI is critical to our geopolitical competition with the People's Republic of China. Many interpret this to mean building larger versions of today's AI models. However, just building larger data sets for today's AI models will not yield a lasting national advantage.
▶ 0:47:22For long-term American leadership in AI, we should pursue a strategy based on our historic technological advantages like public investment in R&D, supporting startups, enabling all Americans to benefit from technology, and mitigating its harms. I detail these in my written testimony, but I'll focus on the latter two for now. This subcommittee has led the charge to increase broadband access and adoption. Put simply, America can't truly lead in AI if not all Americans can benefit from AI.
▶ 0:47:53The bipartisan bead and digital equity programs are critical to closing the digital divide and they should get back on track. Next, this committee ha should continue its tradition of encouraging powerful technologies while mitigating real world harms through bipartisan legislation. During the second industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century, society faced a different powerful technology. It was that of railroads. Chairman Hudson, you know that Franklin, Virginia had its beginnings as a rail stop.
▶ 0:48:23Ranking member Matsui, you know that Sacramento was the was the uh terminus for the transcontinental railroad. Farmers, however, got the short end of the stick for a long time. Railroads charge farmers more for their short hall shipments than they charge large companies to ship across the country. So, states stepped in and they passed laws to ban this kind of price discrimination. These laws didn't stop industrialization or slow the technology. They mitigated a real world harm.
▶ 0:48:49Based on state laws, Congress later stepped in to enact these kinds of protections nationally. Specifically, your predecessors on this committee passed bipartisan laws like the Heepburn Act, named for the former chair of this committee, to require fair terms for farmers, price transparency for small businesses, and an end to vertical integration that harms competition. I tell this story to illustrate that state and federal laws can encourage positive aspects of a powerful technology while mitigating its harms.
▶ 0:49:18Just as they did with railroads, states today are leading the charge to mitigate the harms of AI. For railroads, Congress passed federal laws commensurate with state protections. On AI, the House passed a 10-year moratorium on state guardrails. This is a different path representing a major policy shift in AI and from how powerful technologies have been regulated in the past. This moratorium would wipe away real guardrails protecting real people and strip millions of Americans of of rights promised to them by their state lawmakers without commensurate federal protections.
▶ 0:49:49This doesn't mean Congress shouldn't act on AI. As I said earlier, investing in R&D, supporting startups, those are necessary. The bipartisan house framework that Mr. uh Obernolulti and others have put together has a lot of really good ideas for policy. This committee should also reinvigorate bipartisan efforts on privacy and to protect kids and work with the administration on advancing bead and digital equity programs. In closing, thank you for inviting me to be here with you today and I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.
▶ 0:50:17We will now begin questioning and I'll recognize myself for five minutes. Mr. Pickering, um while the advancement of AI has so much potential to improve efficiencies across many industries, it can also uh be used maliciously and cause serious damage. While we've seen a few instances of placing measured safeguards on certain uses of AI, we must balance any regulation with uh enabling innovation.
▶ 0:50:42Can you also give us an example of how Europe has inhibited industry from advancing AI due to their overbearing Now if you if you look at the European model which has shifted a lot of the AI investment to America and given us a comparative competitive advantage it allow it it doesn't allow it is more of a permissionbased system versus a riskbased system and I think America should continue its tradition of light touch riskbased uh
▶ 0:51:12rules and regulations at a national level on something of a of a national uh priority that needs needs a national uh framework. And so uh if if you look at how we have done in the internet age, setting a national framework that allowed full competition of uh of open internet that whether you're a small business or a large business, you can have equal access to the internet.
▶ 0:51:40The same is going to be true on the AI models from open source to closed and proprietary. If you have a gatekeeper that's going to to check whether a a new entrant that will be punished the most from a regulatory framework of a European type model, the large tech companies will be uniquely positioned in the resources to to manage the complexity of whether it's 50 states or one regulatory framework that would be modeled after that.
▶ 0:52:09Our approach I think is is the the best which is maximizing competition not reguli regulating in a way that slows the innovation and the investment in the private sector and letting all models compete against each other as quickly as possible. And if if we do that we'll be successful. And so thank you for the the question. That makes a lot of sense. Now so one of our concerns is having a patchwork of of state regulations. You mentioned this in in your testimony.
▶ 0:52:38Are you familiar with Colorado and kind of what's going on with their state regulations? Yes. And and the former member of this committee, Congressman Polus, has raised concerns and objections about what his his state law and legislature has done that really could stifle investment in the Colorado uh economy and investment and what the AI economy means.
▶ 0:53:00And so at uh you know whether it is Colorado there there have been and congressman Obernalty brought this up in the in the reconciliation markup a thousand different pieces of legislation across the 50 states um if you go back to this committee's history it did the cable act in '92 the wireless spectrum auctions in 93 the telecommunications act of 96 the commercialization of the internet privacy copa uh
▶ 0:53:30copyright, privacy, internet tax moratorium. So in every category of the internet regulatory framework, it was done in this committee. It was done by this leadership on a bipartisan basis. And that's what we need today if we're going to win the the the race. We cannot afford the delay and the the unpredictability of a patchwork approach when we need just like in the cold war and the nuclear race in World War II.
▶ 0:54:00We need a national urgency of getting a framework in place. And that's again I go back to Congressman Obernalty and Lou and the leadership. There's enough bipartisan commitment and consensus on this issue. There's a lot of issues to fight over in the country and in Congress, but on AI policy is a place where we can find common ground in a sustainable policy that is of national urgency and imperative.
▶ 0:54:30I agree with you. I think this committee is is is prepared to work in a bipartisan way to address this. What advice would you give us though to make sure that any regulations we do are reasonable and they don't stifle innovation? um let all of you know the market of maximum competition has worked in every decade.
▶ 0:54:55So if you think through Ronald Reagan's break up of the AT&T system in 1982 and then you had long-distance competition that replaced copper analog networks with fiber digital networks. Then this committee passed the cable act which brought cable and satellite into competition with one another. One was digital, one was analog.
▶ 0:55:17The competition made both of them build out the last mile infrastructure that allowed the internet to be commercialized and reach every American. The 96 act full competition of all networks of everyone competing against each other with interconnected interoperable networks and devices works.
▶ 0:55:38So the only recommendation that I would give to this committee is whatever you do use maximum competition to achieve your objective and that's the best way to regulate the market and to give consumer protection and also to give you the innovation at this table for national security cyber security health education workforce solutions. Great. Thank you for that. My time is expired. I'll now recognize the ranking member represent Matsui for five minutes for your questions.
▶ 0:56:07Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Um, our state and local governments are on the front lines of leveraging the benefits of AI while protecting consumers from AI specific harms and ensuring workforce protections keep pace with rapid technological change. As home to 32 of the world's 50 leading AI companies, California is a national leader in ensuring that innovation and competition thrive alongside common sense Mr.
▶ 0:56:37Ram Zanali, how would the 10-year AI state moratorum as passed by the House Republicans impact US AI innovation and protections for millions of Americans? Thank you for that question uh madame ranking member and I think your state of California has done great work as you said both on encouraging innovation and also mitigating its risks.
▶ 0:57:02The way I like to think about it at the most simple level is responsible innovation shouldn't be afraid of laws that go after responsible practices. The kinds of state laws that have been passed go after deep fakes. They go after scams. There's a lot that require transparency as well. But that's how we know when issues pop up. So to me there's a there's a great way to do responsible innovation while also mitigating harms. Thank you very much. I always hear about when I hear about moratorum and I hear about competition and innovation. they don't go together at all as far as I'm concerned.
▶ 0:57:32Uh and so those are two sides of it that we have to really deal with and I'm sure that this conversation would take place on this subcommittee. Um to lead the world in AI, America needs fast, reliable and futureproof networks to power AIdriven data centers networks and homes. Mr. Pickering. You mentioned the need to expand fiber networks to reach rural and underserved communities at risk being left behind in the AI economy.
▶ 0:58:02Why is this so critical for AI innovation? So the connectivity to every American gives the the greatest opportunity for every American and to every small business, every community. And it doesn't matter if it's my home state of Mississippi, which is primarily rural, or your district, which is is urban. Connectivity in today's world is employment. It is opportunity.
▶ 0:58:29It is the greatest way to get uh both uh the opportunity that America has to offer the education, the workforce, the health care. And so being able to have universal access to the to the fastest, highest capacity networks is a national commitment that that members of this committee and Congress made coming out of the pandemic. Absolutely.
▶ 0:58:52We kept all Americans connected during the pandemic and from that a commitment to bring broadband to every community whether right now and I agree with you. We need to speed deed. I agree with Chairman Hudson. Right. We need to give clear guidelines, cut the red tape, get shovels in the ground and go. There are states waiting right now ready to go. So I think we need to move forward.
▶ 0:59:17Um I work hard to advance policies that support the development and deployment of open radio access networks or as we call it OAN including NTI's public wireless supply chain innovation fund under the chips and science act. Open RAND increases supply chain diversity which has significant economic and national security benefits. Mr. Vashish right um and Mr.
▶ 0:59:42Shay how do technologies like open RAN help us leverage AI technologies for next generation connectivity and maintain US technological leadership. Yeah thanks for the question. Um maybe I'll take that first. So as you quite rightly said, open RAN was enabling interoperability in a system that was traditionally proprietary in a closed system.
▶ 1:00:06And what Open RAN was able to do by enabling that interoperability was enable new players to come into the industry as well as enable some of the interfaces to be more more openly developed. Um what we need to do now is really kind of accelerate open rand and make open ran um competitive. One of the challenges that also was around open rand was the competitiveness of that compared to the proprietary systems.
▶ 1:00:37And so that first step that was made with open ran now with what's called AI ran right which is including AI into those open standards as well and enabling the network to become softwaredefined. So you're completely writing new features and capabilities in software.
▶ 1:00:56you can now open up that ecosystem still further as well as create more competition in that ecosystem while at the same time taking advantage of AI to improve the spectral efficiency and operational efficiency. Okay, thank you. And I want to ask Mr. Shay to have more comments. OAN enabled our business in 5G and 6G.
▶ 1:01:18Um, you know, when we first started the company, we traveled around to many of the vendors and we had great conversations, but they didn't want to give us any access to their code. With OAN working with initially Intel and now Nvidia, we were able to actually build operating 5G base stations. In fact, uh, our headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia. We have two operating 5G base stations that are built based upon OAN and are enabled with our AI technology, something that we couldn't have done previously with closed systems. Well, thank you very much. Time has run out. Thank you. Thank you, chair.
▶ 1:01:48now recognizes chairman of the full committee, Mr. Guthrie for five minutes. Thank you. Thank you. And and the ranking member and I have been partners in spectrum and I'm over here on this far end spectrum and other things and and she just asked the first question I was going to ask. So we we think alike. So thanks and and there is a lot of cooperation on both sides of the aisle and trying to figure out how do we defeat China. All of us want to defeat China to to uh making sure that we're the platform that the world uses for AI. And so Mr.
▶ 1:02:14of us used to uh what we've been focused on almost every hearing that we've had has been focused on how do we beat China AI. Um it's all subcommittee and anything that brings all the jurisdiction of this committee together it's AI and so uh um the big part is energy.
▶ 1:02:30How do you a lot of guys will tell me that guys and ladies I say guys generically but men and women will tell me that uh in this industry that we have the brain power we have the capital we need the energy and we need the we need the regulatory structure where we can succeed and so in terms of energy it's producing the energy but it's also being more efficient with the energy that we have uh if you look at the delta between China's production of energy and ours it's scary and we have to catch up but we also have to get better with the energy that we have and so
▶ 1:03:00would you talk about um as a leading chip manufacturer in in AI software how Nvidia is using advancements in chip technology and AI to improve data center efficiency in energy consumption. Yeah, absolutely. That obviously that that's a very important point when it comes to the um deployment of AI but it's also a very important point in the design of AI.
▶ 1:03:26Um AI as we see is generated from a hardware infrastructure that requires chips to do processing, networking and many other functions. And as we move down that technology curve, what we are able to do is improve the efficiency and capability of th those chips.
▶ 1:03:47At the same time, what we've been able to see in the last few years by using accelerated compute as opposed to um the traditional compute, say with CPUs only, we're able to en we're able to achieve much higher energy efficiency. Think of it as performance per watt.
▶ 1:04:09Accelerated compute really has given the enablement or led to the enablement of AI and energy efficiency is really create is created by that accelerated compute such that we can achieve the functions we want to achieve in the silicon technologies that we have.
▶ 1:04:28So my question so so that thank you that that was my question but also added to that if you look at the gap between what China's producing energy and we're producing in energy can can we make that up in efficiency alone or is it going to require us producing more energy? Now I think there is going to be a requirement for more energy.
▶ 1:04:47Um energy is um you know the just the massive scale of deployment to be competitive in AI will require more energy even though we are improving energy efficiency of the infrastructure itself every generation also. Well thank you thank you and and I had a question for Mr. Sheay but that was a question that uh that Miss Matsui asked. So I may get back if you want to follow up because I think you were running out of time but let me go to Mr. Pickering first.
▶ 1:05:11Can you elaborate on what kind of growth our networks will require to support American innovation and AI and how soon this infrastructure needed? How soon is this infrastructure needed so the United States can compete? Uh Mr.
▶ 1:05:24Chairman, so if you think about fiber capacity to the data center, one of my member companies, their CEO recently said in the next five years, fiber capa capacity to the data center is projected to to multiply six Now, if any of y'all were to go to the Northern Virginia data center hub and if you were to to realize the abundance of fiber capacity into that data center hub enormous.
▶ 1:05:54To comprehend six multiples of capacity, demand growth is really hard to to emphasize how important that is. And I see chairman LA here as well. The same thing is going to happen in our grid, our transmission, our energy supply and generation. And we no longer look at a separation between the energy market, the data center market and the fiber market.
▶ 1:06:23It is converged into one AI infrastructure market. And those inputs going in and meeting at the data center. If you look at my home state of Mississippi, which has always been last in economic growth, this year they're second in GDP growth because of huge investments that have been made possible by a fiber route built by Zo, one of our member companies that went from Atlanta, Georgia to Dallas.
▶ 1:06:49It passes through Birmingham, Meridia, Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, Vixsburg, Monroe. And that has become AI alley with tens of billions of dollars of data center investments Birmingham, Meridian, Jackson, Vixsburg, and it's causing all of our energy production, grids, transmission to see massive growth and and upgrades. Thanks. If that is my time's kind of Yeah, I know you know the rules here, right?
▶ 1:07:15My expired and I'm going to you got me excited because the the growth and the economic development comes with all this new capacity. It is exciting. and we're looking forward to working together on that. Thank you. Thank you, chairman. Chair now recognizes Representative Sodto for five minutes for your questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:07:33We know AI is going to be an increasing part of our daily lives in our homes, in our offices, small businesses, helping out with uh medicine and education, uh entertainment, and we're going to need advanced microchips, a strong internet connectivity, growing workforce, and huge amounts of storage and energy uh to make this happen.
▶ 1:07:58Uh it was recently announced a $70 million artificial intelligence partnership between UF and Nvidia. We appreciate that. Uh at Neo City in our district in CMI, we're making advanced aerospace microchips and AI capacitor microchips. Uh it's been named an NSF engine. And uh Chris Malachowski is a UF uh grad and co-founder. So we appreciate that uh that partnership.
▶ 1:08:28Mr. Vasista, we we see uh huge tariffs being levied uh especially today 50% on steel and aluminum a 10% across the board tariffs still remain in place as well as higher elevated towers to for places like Canada and Mexico. How does this affect manufacturing of advanced microchips?
▶ 1:08:51So firstly, yeah, thank you very much for the acknowledgement of Chris Malikowski who's as you said a founder of Nvidia and very connected to University of Florida. Um, you know, my real specialty is uh telecommunications and AI. Um, so I'm going to have to defer on the question of tariffs if you don't mind. You don't use steel or aluminum to help make microchips? Um, I'm sure they are used, but I don't get to see that in a on a daily basis.
▶ 1:09:19I also want to talk about uh uh immigrant uh labor. You know the your CEO Jensen Hang is an immigrant. We see a lot of CEOs uh are immigrants who come into the country. How important is it for some of these visas and to allow some of this highly skilled talent to stay? And uh what effect could deportations and a chilling effect on immigrants who come and want to be US citizens and contribute to the economy for the future of microchip technology?
▶ 1:09:49Yeah. So Nvidia, we pride ourselves in being a global company. We have employees around the world. Um and also we have some amazing talent that has been able to come to the US to really exhibit their talent and grow their talent and I I am actually a big a recipient of that being able to come to the US and grow my career. um and now at Nvidia.
▶ 1:10:13So bring it having the right availability of talent where you need it and when you need it and the enablement of that talent to be trained on the most current technologies and bringing the brightest and best and leveraging that across the globe I think is absolutely essential for um uh for us in the US to grow. So if we allow them pathways to stay that could help the United States.
▶ 1:10:36If we let them go back to other countries, that actually increased the competition, especially uh if we're talking about nations that don't share our values. Uh we also see the chips act under attack, 52 billion for chips manufacturing. You had mentioned also the importance of telecom manufacturing, 1.5 billion to incentivize that. How key is maintaining the chips act to helping have the enough resources both public and private to develop advanced AI microchips?
▶ 1:11:03Yeah, as I said in my opening remarks, I think the um the the NTIA or um public wireless fund that was created is absolutely correct. There's um there's a requirement for public and private um partnership when it comes to research.
▶ 1:11:23We have some of the best researchers um on AI um within NVIDIA and we work constantly with research organizations and we need they also need funding as well to enable them to do their best work. Thank you so much. Uh it's been 135 days since President Trump has taken office. 135 days of delays to the bead program, rural broadband highspeed internet for uh folks in underserved areas.
▶ 1:11:52135 days of nothing happening even though 50 states have already approved uh their plans. U Mr. Ramzanali, what is the cost to places in rural America like my district and South Oola and East Orange uh and to local agriculture and other small businesses in rural America by this delay to the rural broadband program? I appreciate the question.
▶ 1:12:18uh the the cost is the delay not just of people having access to worldleading tools that we believe should be uh developed in the US but it's also the cost of the economic value that all those people could be producing through jobs through remote learning through so many other things that the internet enables. Thanks so much. It's time to get this done and I yield back. Thanks gentlemen. I now recognize Representative Allen for five minutes to ask your questions.
▶ 1:12:42Thank you, Chairman Hudson, uh, for holding this hearing and I thank the expert witnesses for joining us today. Uh, Mr. Vichita, uh, could you provide a working definition of AI and its impact and context of this hearing Yeah. Um, obviously everybody talks about AI and we heard some examples of um, some of the uses of AI in your opening in the um, committee members opening remarks.
▶ 1:13:09AI is really the ability for um computers to predict to think to perceive um as a human would do and hence that is the definition of AI. Um Mr. Pickering and Mr. Bisha and Mr. Sheay um let's talk about national disasters. Uh my district experienced signi sign significant telecommunications disruptions from hurricane Helen took weeks in some areas for phone service to return to normal.
▶ 1:13:39Could artificial intelligence help mitigate these uh disrupt disruptions in the future and if so how Mr. Pickering the answer is yes. they'll the AI applications whether it is in our fiber wireless or any of our our networks is able to both manage and optimize redundancy resiliency and to to be able to get systems back up and running and identify where issues are much more quickly than in the past.
▶ 1:14:09is as I mentioned being from a state that is both tornado flood and hurricane prone this is a critical issue and AI just like it in every sector I think will give benefits of getting our communications back up managing our networks more efficiently and effectively and so I I think it's a great application that we can all site as one of the reasons AI is a good thing yeah um so AI has the capability and we're starting to develop some that
▶ 1:14:39capability even more at Nvidia to actually um have some level of prediction of weather outcomes as well. So the first stage is obviously when you start to enable predictions to happen and be able to um re proactively react and make decisions uh based upon those weather predictions and likely outcomes. A lot of work is happening with uh invidia around that about with something that we call the earth two model and we're working with researchers around the world to make that happen.
▶ 1:15:08And then of course there's the um uh observe orientate decide and act aspect of AI which AI is able to then make those decisions real time uh autonomously and then be able to act on those decisions autonomously and in an agentic way.
▶ 1:15:27This is really the year of um AI agents that can make those kind of actions and decisions autonomously um and rapidly and then of course make decisions to um be able to react afterwards to put the right logistics in place through a complex supply chain. Mr. Piger, I I have to, you know, go with Mr.
▶ 1:15:50Bashista's comments that with digital twin technology we can predict what coverage we have left over with the resources that are existing after a natural disaster and the AI in particular is good as I mentioned in my talk about pulling signals out of noise and interference. So although you may not get the full capacity you can at least get some capacity to everyone so first responders and people in need will have some coverage no matter where they are in the cells capabilities with what you have available.
▶ 1:16:15So yes, it's a great way to recover from a disaster, know where you need to put your resources to go, which cell sites to fix first, how to get the maximum capacity up to serve the people, right? Yeah, it was critical to our first responders and law enforcement and others in dealing with uh uh that disaster. Uh Mr. Pickering, how can AI be used to enhance efficiency within our communication networks?
▶ 1:16:39We we already know and see in our in our wireless networks the optimization of of spectrum how you can you can more efficiently dynamically share use spectrum uh beam and target spectrum mitigate interference.
▶ 1:16:56So the maximization and the effic efficiency that AI brings to our wireless networks can also be used in our fiber networks can be used in data centers and it can be used in low earth orbit satellites. So every communication system now is going to be embedded with AI efficiency. Okay. Same thing is true in our energy networks and grid and transmission. Good. Good. Uh Mr. Shay, I've got 20 seconds.
▶ 1:17:25Uh how can we use AI to secure our communications infrastructure from milit malicious actors? Well, with the infrastructure you can actually locate uh fake base stations, denial service attacks and other type of capabilities that people adversaries might bring against you. Um so at the physical layer it helps you protect it. Then you have your cyber security at the back end that can work hand inand to protect our networks. Good. Thank you. Thank you all. Appreciate it. And I yield back, sir. Thank the gentleman. The chair now recognizes Representative Clark for five minutes to ask her questions.
▶ 1:17:55Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me thank our panel of witnesses for appearing before us today. Our committee has a long history of working in bipartisan manner on issues of connectivity and protecting consumers. More recently, we've had robust bipartisan conversations about AI regulation, including the opportunities and challenges associated with this emerging technology.
▶ 1:18:21Which is why I'm disappointed to see my Republican colleagues turn their back on our bipartisan work and sell out to big tech billionaires who have bought their way into our government. Last month, Democrats sat in this hearing room for over 24 hours, relentlessly combating the bad provisions included in the big bad ugly reconciliation bill.
▶ 1:18:44And in the middle of the night, Republicans voted to approve a 10year moratorum on state and local enforcement of their own AI laws and provided no federal safeguards in their place. So, let me be clear. I say this is a giveaway to big tech at the expense of Americans personal freedom, privacy, and safety online.
▶ 1:19:07And until my Republican colleagues finally get their act together after three years in the majority, there'll be no recourse or guard rails in more than half of the states that have responded quickly to their residents concerns about the risks posed by AI. New York City has one of the early movers in this space. Since 2023, we've had an effect on AI bias law designed to regulate the use of AI in employment decisions.
▶ 1:19:37This is just one of the hundreds of state and local laws my Republican colleagues would sweep away. Mr. Ramzan Nali, can you please speak to some of the real world harms and unintended consequences of the moratorum, especially those related to bias and discrimination? I appreciate the question and the New York City law is a good example because the the employment discrimination it's going after.
▶ 1:20:03Let me tell you the kind of harm that we've seen with AI systems in ré screening software in particular. There's a firm that was using resume screening software for computer science jobs and it was screening out women. Now we the company dealt with that, but that's the kind of information that leads to huge problems. The kinds of laws that are out there are not just the New York City employment discrimination law. But you also have laws that create transparency so that we can know when there is a problem. Thank you.
▶ 1:20:30Ensuring that we have proper safeguards in place for sophisticated AI systems is only one piece of the puzzle. It is also critically important that consumers understand the abilities and shortcomings of AI systems that are poised to become an increasing part of our everyday lives. A is AI is already disrupting the way we live and work, supercharging scammers and refocusing our whole industries.
▶ 1:20:54Now perhaps more than ever before, digital literacy and AI literacy will decide who can participate in our modern economy. That is why I'm concerned with President Trump's misguided efforts to roll back the Digital Equity Act. This statute was a vital investment in making not only internet access available, but it also educated users on how to use it.
▶ 1:21:19We've seen far too often during this administration, we were once again on the finish line of getting a $2.75 billion of digital equity grant act grants out the door. And then the president determined by way of truth social that this program was woke, racist, and unconstitutional and directed the Department of Commerce to stop the congressionally authorized and appropriated funding.
▶ 1:21:49Apparently, he was triggered by the word equity. The truth is gutting the digital equity program will only hurt vulnerable populations like seniors, veterans, low-income communities, and communities of color who already suffer from the digital divide.
▶ 1:22:05It will sacrifice critical AI trainings that would have helped seniors understand online scams, upskilled workers, and help more Americans incorporate AI into their everyday Without these programs, we risk building AI bridges to nowhere, creating a new digital divide in which certain communities can benefit from these new technologies and others slip further behind.
▶ 1:22:30This not only harms the economic health and well-being of our local communities, but jeopardizes America's AI competitiveness that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say they care about. So, I urge my Republican colleagues to join us in calling on President Trump to cease his efforts to destroy the digital digital equity act programs. Mr.
▶ 1:22:52Chairman, I'd like to submit for the record a letter from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance describing the importance of the Digital Equity Act in making sure all consumers can take advantage of AI. The chair recognizes Mr. Lada for his five minutes of questions.
▶ 1:23:19Well, thank you very much, Madam Chair, and to our witnesses, thanks very much for being here. Uh, AI is on all of our minds as already many members have already said. So many questions, so little time. Uh, Mr. Pickering in your in your statement, you made a very, you know, eyeing remarks when you said that in 2024, the United States invested 12 times more into I AI than the communist Chinese, but that lead is not guaranteed.
▶ 1:23:46And one of the things I know that we've talked about in the past is about permitting and we got to get done. And it's almost like the top when we're talking about on the communication side and we're talking about the energy side and it's all coming together. But could you talk briefly about if we don't win this race, what's going to happen, especially if we don't get our permitting done in this committee and in the House.
▶ 1:24:08So, um, as China builds out their infrastructure, both energy and fiber networks and data centers, they are not going to experience the type of permitting delays that the energy data center and fiber industry are are are experiencing.
▶ 1:24:25I want to commend you for your your your leadership and the reconciliation on having a national framework on permitting for pipelines that if it is a multi-state uh pipeline that there's a means by which you can have a t time certain approach of a year with an extension of six months. Yesterday I I met with Congresswoman Fedor Shack about what they do in North Dakota and the accountability, the transparency, shot clocks in time.
▶ 1:24:53You can you can have an accountable, transparent process that protects our natural resources and communities, but to act in a timely way. And so our industry on both sides of the data center wants to work on a permitting root reform that gets us as quickly as possible to build as fast as possible.
▶ 1:25:15Well, let me real quickly if I just follow up because again if we're looking if we don't get this done and that and as you said that lead's not guarant guaranteed, how much time do we have It's time to build. we it's time to go and and you know we have horror stories on fiber networks and railroad crossings and long processes that take on the energy side sometimes 10 15 years on the fiber side 18 to two months when when we need to be able to have
▶ 1:25:45shot clocks of 30 60 days of getting the permits that we need to build. Well thank you very much uh Mr. Vashisha, you know, uh, with so many data centers coming online that we're seeing across the country, can current telecom networks handle the amount of traffic that current and also future AI and data centers are going to bring? Yeah. So, you're right. There's a lot of data centers coming online.
▶ 1:26:12A lot of those data centers are actually connected through fiber um to each other or to the telecommunications network. the traffic that comes over the telecommunications network particularly the wireless part of the network is um continuously growing and that's where we really see the need for AI um because that traffic is as the AI models are trained and then as the AI models are inferenced and get consumed by the consumers and by enterprises
▶ 1:26:43that traffic's going to grow considerably and AI is essential and that's why the fusion as I said earlier of radio access network infrastructure on top of also the AI infrastructure will really help enable that AI traffic to be um distributed and consumed. Yeah.
▶ 1:27:06Let me follow up with another question too because again you know we were talking about the five race to 5G and now we're in the race to 6G and I I know I'd asked you know we're different uh witnesses that were here where where are we at? Are we winning? Are we losing? And you know, I always hear that we're doing well and all of a sudden we're not hearing people saying we're doing that well. Got a question. What if we don't win that race to 6G?
▶ 1:27:28Because also in your testimony, you talk about the real threat that intection to automated remediation and incident response especially when we're looking at so many cyber attacks coming in. What happens we don't win that race to 6G? Yeah. So I think it's an imperative, but let me ask answer the question that you you've stated.
▶ 1:27:44the the challenge um with this the challenge and benefit the pro and con of the uh convergence of AI and 6G standards is that there's really only one other comp country that's thinking about this and that is China. Um the traditional implementations of radio access network have not required AI.
▶ 1:28:07there is some AI infusing but the ability to really take advantage of AI I think leaves us as a significant disadvantage from all different facets um both productivity but also security um and overall growth. So I think it's I hate to ask answer the question because I hope we never get to that point. Well, uh, we have a lot of work to do in this committee and in this Congress and we and again, I appreciate all the witnesses for being with us today.
▶ 1:28:36And, Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time. The chair recognizes Representative Peters for his five minutes of questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to say uh where where I think there's agreement here. Uh, I really do believe that permit reform is very important and have been working on that. Uh, would love to see some bipartisan action around that. Um, also we had a privacy bill here passed with a single national standard. I think it was 55 to2. I don't know where that bill is.
▶ 1:29:06We should bring that back and we should pass it. Uh, because I believe that in some things you really have to have a federal standard. I would say this is one where we also have to have one federal standard. We should take the best ideas from New York City. We take the best ideas from California, Mississippi, whoever's whoever is passing these bills. We should put them in one federal standard because it is impractical for us to have not just 50 different states regulating it, but now localities, counties. I mean, it's nuts. That won't work. I agree. Let me tell you my problem, Mr. Picking.
▶ 1:29:35Let me since you're in Congress, I heard all this urgent talk about urgency, but the Republicans came up with this notion we should have a 10-year moratorum. What what timing does that signal to this Congress is okay for setting a standard? Doesn't it really basically say you got 10 years? There two precedents to to cons consider.
▶ 1:29:55The internet tax moratorum was a three-year moratorum that was extended twice and eventually it was made uh permanent by President Obama who signed a permanent internet tax moratorum. Now the result of that as ecommerce emerged has been at least five trillion yeah in economic development because we didn't have a a know hundreds of tax jurisdictions on e-commerce.
▶ 1:30:22The second uh precedent for the for the committee to consider was the beginning of spectrum auctions. It was in the budget reconciliation act of 1993 which was President Clinton and Gore and they included it in because the spectrum auctions would create revenue right and at the same time they preempted any state regulation on the on the rates and on the entry because that would have devalued this new emerging technology.
▶ 1:30:51The moratorium and modernization provision and reconciliation has the same principles and same concepts. We believe in all of government modernization of every government service from Department of Defense to energy to Medicare to Medicaid will have tremendous savings if they adopt AI uses and applications in technology.
▶ 1:31:13But if we have 50 different states regulating no undermines the the basis of this I'm not I'm not sure it can be done in reconciliation and I don't disagree with the theory of it. I just think that 10 years in in the face of this talk about urgency, we had Eric Schmidt come in here. You could have heard a pin drop when he talked about how important this was. 10 years is completely out of line. You know, I think if we if you're talking about a mor that's a ban, that's not a mortorium. A moratorium is two years.
▶ 1:31:40You know, to me that whether it's 10 years or something less than 10 years, as long as this Congress has a window of pause to set the federal framework, you just mentioned you're close on privacy. We're very close on permitting on the infrastructure. We actually have a bill passed on privacy. We can't get back here actually. So that the question is what is the right time to give you the opportunity on this committee to create a national framework on the major questions.
▶ 1:32:11Okay. My answer is this term which is about a year and a half left and that's the appropriate time for a mortorium. So I mean I'm all for doing all accomplishing all the goals but if there's really a sense of urgency let's get it done this term is my is my answer. I had another question for uh Mr. Ramzanali. I just this concept of normal technology um in your testimony you stated that uh AI is a normal technology that needs normal regulation.
▶ 1:32:35I wish I understood what you meant by that but how can this committee treat AI like normal technology when it's so complex and what maybe is the priority you think for us to to attack first? I appreciate the question. So this framework of a normal technology is not meant to say it's not powerful. It is powerful. We should apply it across so many different domains. it's going to have really important impacts in a lot of scientific domains. The idea is to say this is not the kind of problem where we don't have policy tools from our history that we can apply.
▶ 1:33:05So that's that's the idea is we can treat it in a way where we can look to historical precedent. We can look to the policy toolkit we have and apply that. Okay. Um well, I'm looking forward to this. Like I mean Mr. Pickering, I just playing with you because you're a former member of Congress. It's fun to fun to see witnesses out there, you know, and I want you to know I agree the sooner the better. Yeah. I think I think the thing is that I I just want to indicate that this Democrat agrees there has to be a national standard. This Democrat agrees there has to be permanent reform.
▶ 1:33:33But I just laugh at the notion that 10 years is the right timing and I if we're really we're sense about we really have a sense of urgency about it this term. I yield back. The chair recognizes Mr. Bill Rockus for his five minutes of questions. Thank you. I appreciate it very much, Madam Chair. Uh Mr. Sheay, uh you briefly mentioned uh how technology and AI have been used to combat threats to the Weaguers by both China and Turkey.
▶ 1:34:04As co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, I've been a longtime advocate for the Weaguers. Uh so the importance of this really uh stuck with me. Can you uh can you talk more about how AI is being used or can be used to prevent human rights abuses uh war crimes and other acts of I I think the thing you can do with proper monitoring um you can make sure that adversaries aren't uh getting into
▶ 1:34:34your network uh putting up fake base stations doing other types of things that they're then using for surveillance because as you know with the problem with the fake base station is they grab a call and then suddenly uh the information going across there often can be uh deciphered. So I think it's important for us to provide the tools both to our partners and our country to be able to protect these networks to make sure that's not being used uh you know for hostile type intent. Very good. Thank you.
▶ 1:35:01Uh at the same time as this uh same time as this hearing of course you know ENC is also having the oversight hearing uh on robocalls. Uh so it's fitting to bring that this topic up at this particular time which is it's very important to my constituents. So uh again with regard to robocall ever since the trace act was passed I think the average American became familiar with how AI capabilities have addressed spam calls.
▶ 1:35:31So we made some progress. people can now see a likely spam message uh pop up when an unknown uh number of calls helping prevent fraud and that is great progress. It really is toward protecting vulnerable people from identity thefts but we have to do more but actually catching these criminals continues to remain elusive and uh prosecutions are rare unfortunately. So Mr. Pickering.
▶ 1:35:59How can AI AI be used utilized to actually track down online and by phone uh criminals that are preying on our seniors in particular and finally shut them down once and for all. Uh if you could answer that question, appreciate.
▶ 1:36:19You know the the great thing about AI is if you give AI a problem, it will create a greater productive way and solution to attack any problem whether it is fraud, criminal conduct or finding a cure for cancer. It'll be faster.
▶ 1:36:39be more productive and it will be able to bring you know all the knowledge of of any particular case to be able to solve it and and to to meet the objectives whether it is in criminal justice or in national security or in energy or any other sector.
▶ 1:36:57And so the the applications and the growth of our large language models and what comes next with the quantifiable language models is really going to be an everinccreasing way whether it's roocalls or fraud to be able to identify authenticate and and recognize identify bad actors and then pursue give tools to pursue them. Very good. Thank you. Uh one more question uh for Mr. Pickering.
▶ 1:37:25One of my senior staffers just got back from a trip, a delegation trip to Israel, uh, including the Gaza Strip. One of the items discussed with Israeli leaders was the potential of AI to help identify and address the significant rise in anti-edimentism online. And with recent events in Colorado is clearly not only something of importance to Israel, but a potential aid to a worldwide problem. Uh, Mr. Pickering again.
▶ 1:37:56Can you explain how AI is extremely being used currently being used by uh your member companies to identify threats of violence and potential prevent and potentially prevent violence against religious groups uh and what potential AI has in the near future to continue to address this particular issue. I know you touched on it, but if you could elaborate, appreciate it.
▶ 1:38:22You know, this is a subject I'm not as familiar or have not been uh privy to those types of applications, but I'm confident if in general, yes. in in general if if there's an ability to whether it is a prediction of a natural disaster or a cyber security or a potential crime.
▶ 1:38:46I think AI can be a resource and a tool for for law enforcement, for national security or or for homeland to be able to to better predict or identify and then hopefully prevent disasters or attacks on the US.
▶ 1:39:04So we have to have a a again this is why I think a federal framework in each category of the major questions so that we could use the full resources of the modernization of government services that include national security, cyber security and and homeland security. Thank you. I yel back. Thank you. The chair recognizes Miss Dingle for her five minutes of questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.
▶ 1:39:31Artificial intelligence is transforming nearly every aspect of our lives, which we all know with great potential benefits and serious risks. As AI becomes more powerful and more deeply embedded in our economy, we've got to take comprehensive action to asssure this technology strengthens ourselves, our health, safety, economy, and national security so we can reap its benefits.
▶ 1:39:58But we also know that it's got serious potential harms. So I mean just some examples is AIdriven robocalls, deep fakes and deceptive advertising. And we have to be mindful of how much AI would widen existing digital divides. But there I want to be positive too. There real opportunities when paired with next generation connectivity like 5G and 6G.
▶ 1:40:27AI can revolutionize health care, improve customer service, and help power the future of the automotive industry, boosting innovation, creating jobs, and improving lives across the country. But in the few minutes I have, I want to stay focused robocalls.
▶ 1:40:45I think there's a growing threat of robocalls and robots, many of which are increasingly powered by AI, and disproportionately target vulnerable In 2024 alone, Americans received over 52 billion roocalls. Nearly 200 calls per adult. Nearly half were scams or unwanted telemarketing calls.
▶ 1:41:12They're not just annoying, they're dangerous for a lot of people. Consumers reported losing a record 122.5 billion to fraud with 2.95 billion lost to impostor scams where bad actors used AI and deep fake tools to convincingly mimic trusted voices and identities.
▶ 1:41:34Additionally, roboex and fishing emails are tricking people into clicking malicious links or sharing sensitive financial information. scams pretending to be from Medicare, law enforcement, bank accounts, or even family members in distress. We used to get the old one, I'm, you know, stranded. Now they're mimicking these voices of family members. They're using clone voices to build trust. They're getting more and more sophisticated.
▶ 1:42:05And as AI voice cloning, spoofing, and deep fake tools become more accessible, threats continue to evolve. and Congress, the federal government and regulators have to keep pace. Mr. um Ramzalani, can you speak to how bad actors are using artificial intelligence to exploit seniors, people with disabilities, other atrisisk groups? I appreciate that question and you're right. This is a pernicious problem. It's not just annoying.
▶ 1:42:34People are getting scammed in dangerous ways. Uh the robocall problem is accelerated by AI in a number of ways. Generative AI is being used to generate scripts that can be compelling for particular audiences. It's being used to build impersonation of specific people that a person might know. And it's being used to read that script on a call to try to scam somebody out of uh their money. That's that's a problem with the technology. In my view, regulating a problem like that doesn't hurt national security.
▶ 1:43:04And so this is the kind of regulation where we we can reduce real world harms and not hurt our leadership in the world. I want to build on that. Earlier this year, the FCC chairman emphasized that cracking down on illegal robocalls remains a top priority. The commission has committed to expanding the use of do not originate lists and strengthening call blocking tools, both of which are essential to protecting consumers. Though I would say to you, I'm on the do not originate list and I get 20 calls a day.
▶ 1:43:33So, I'm trying to figure out and get that figured out. But, um, uh, we must ensure all providers are fully implementing these tools. Last month, the commission adopted new rules that require caller ID authentic authentification on nonIP networks, helping ensure uniform robocal call mitigation across platforms. Mr.
▶ 1:43:54I mean, how can artificial intelligence and machine learning be leveraged not only to detect but proactively block or trace trace illegal robocalls and root tests? How can AI be part of the solution? I appreciate that question. The FCC had a proceeding last year to ask that exact question and has some answers. Uh, but I would say where you went, where you're on the do not call list, I am too. We both get calls all the time. That's not acceptable.
▶ 1:44:23We we can't be at a place where we accept that. We wouldn't accept that with bank fraud. We wouldn't accept that with our spam emails. So, I do think it's worth continuing to push the FCC. The other hearing that's happening on robocalls, the Consumer Federation of America has a lot of good ideas on what else can be done. I urge the committee to consider those. Thank you. I have questions for you, Mr. Pick Green, but I'm out of time, so I'll yield back and submit them for the record.
▶ 1:44:56Okay, the chair recognizes Mr. Obernolulti for his five minutes of Well, thank you very much, Madam Chair. Um, Mr. Pickering, uh, we've, uh, heard in your opening remarks about your support for the moratorum on the enforcement of state regulation of AI. uh and you've heard in the opening statements of several members here and then in some of the subsequent questions answering some assertions about the moratorium.
▶ 1:45:27So I wanted to to ask you specifically about a few of them. One of the assertions that we've heard is that uh the uh moratorum should be stripped out under the bird rule because it is policy and isn't related to fiscal matters. Now, as you know, the reason the moratorium was included is because we're making a $500 million investment in procuring AI to make federal government more efficient and effective.
▶ 1:45:53And uh it's nonsensical to make that enormous investment if all these federal agencies are going to have to navigate this morass of 50 different state regulations. Would you agree with the assertion that's been made that uh this should be stripped out under the bird rule or would you disagree?
▶ 1:46:10I would disagree and and again going back to other president 1993 Bill Clinton Al Gore started spectrum auctions with a a Democrat uh majority of both house and senate on a partisan vote and it was in budget reconciliation so that you'd have all the value created by spectrum auctions.
▶ 1:46:31You would also create a competitive industry and you would preempt states from regulating wireless entry and rates so that you'd get the maximum value. I think that's one of the best parallel precedents to the AI moratorum so that we can maximize excuse me all of the savings and all the efficiencies across government if we were to adopt AI technologies.
▶ 1:46:59Uh we think you know just in the department of defense alone we have an example of one of our companies granite that does telecommunication services replacing the old network and communications with new AI generated options and services and they believe just in one branch that they can save a hundred million dollars a year on changing that type of of technology from obsolete antiquated to new.
▶ 1:47:26And if you do that across the board in every department, every agency, you know, last night you were at the AI award dinner, vice uh the vice admiral that heads as the director of the US geospatial intelligence agency has probably created more wealth in our in our country in the private sector with taking the geospatial and putting it in all of our do devices that we now know as Google maps or Apple maps.
▶ 1:47:56our precision farming, our transportation and dist distribution. We think that the AI adoption governmentwide will have tremendous savings and also help us grow our economy once the government products and solutions also go into the commercial markets. Thanks. It's helpful to point out that this is this has precedent. It's been done this way before. Yes.
▶ 1:48:17Um, another assertion that was made by several of my colleagues in their opening statements is that the moratorum would prevent states from enforcing laws that protect consumer safety and prevent deceptive business practices. Would you agree with that assertion? I would disagree. the general application of law, whether it's civil rights, consumer protection, consumer fraud, criminal conduct, the the language that's in the in the modernization and moratorium and the reconciliation does not disrupt any of the enforcement of those laws.
▶ 1:48:47Right. Yeah. And it was there's specific language in that bill that says that as long as something isn't narrowly targeted on a AI, it can be enforced. That is correct. Right. Uh, last assertion that's been made is that this is a giveaway to big tech. Is that something you would agree with or disagree with? As an advocate for for competitors for 40 years, for the new entrance, the new technology, the upstarts, the innovators, the entrepreneurs, it's the exact opposite.
▶ 1:49:17If you're a small startup, you cannot afford the the patchwork of 50 states, the complexity of it to create a model that you hope to deploy in 50 states and nationally and globally.
▶ 1:49:33If you have to to go through the hoops of every different state's regulation, it is the small startup that suffers the most under that system versus having one predictable national framework that then helps the new start and the competitor enter without a regulatory burden and cost that the big companies can afford and manage and have the resources in every state and here in Washington to manage. it is the small and the new entrant that does not. Right?
▶ 1:50:03So, this is uh this favors entrepreneurs and actually is anti- big tech because it encourages competition and you know one of our I I'm sorry I don't want to let you go over here. I'm Well, okay. Thank you. I see we're out of time, but thank you very much for your Thank you very much. I yield back. The chair recognizes Miss Brian for her five minutes of questions. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to focus on AI's role in the real world life or death situations. Nearly 68 million Americans speak a language other than English at home.
▶ 1:50:33That's one in five Americans. In addition to immigrant communities, million of tourists contribute to our economy and their safety matters, too. For all these people, receiving emergency alerts or calling 911 in their own language can mean the difference between life and death. AI can help bridge those gaps, translating weather alerts or 911 calls in real time. But if we're not careful, errors and delays in translation could cost lives.
▶ 1:51:03States need the power to enforce rules and Congress must ensure these systems are safe, effective, and fair. Mr. Ram Zanali, um, in your testimony, you highlighted AI's potential for real time language translation during 911 calls. How can AI and next generation 911 work together to better serve our diverse communities and save lives?
▶ 1:51:32Thank you for highlighting the community that has that need. And let me describe the problem. When someone calls into 911, someone who doesn't speak English, there are translation services available. It just takes the operator time to even know what language is being spoken. That time is critical life and death time. That's where a technology can be helpful. Now, this is not at the like let's deploy it out to 100% of the 911 operators today, but it has promise.
▶ 1:51:58I'll I'll also point out that the transparency requirements that a lot of states have, that's the kind of transparency requirements you want going hand inand with deploying a technology in this kind of a situation. Well, thank you. That's uh one of the reasons I'm disappointed that my Republican colleagues have abandoned a plan to fund Next Gen 911, money that could have ensured that everyone, regardless of language they speak, could get help in an emergency.
▶ 1:52:23Instead, they gave billionaires yet another tax break, putting lives at risk. Mr. Ramsanali, could you describe how AI translation technology has already been used to deliver life-saving information to millions of Americans who speak a language other than English? As I described, it is starting to be used in 911 systems today. Some of the vendors are rolling it out. Uh it's not yet at mass scale, but it is something where we are seeing that happen.
▶ 1:52:52And uh in fact I I heard from uh one of the government officials who works on NG 911 this week that it can save up to six minutes in the delay between having access to 911 response in the language that somebody needs and not having that for six minutes. Wow, that's a lot of time when it comes to an emergency and response. Um I'd like to share another example. In 2023, the National Weather Service partnered with an AI translation firm to train a language model in weather terminology.
▶ 1:53:21Thanks to that collaboration, forecasters reduced the time to translate hurricane forecast from an hour to less than 10 minutes, potentially saving countless lives. When the Trump administration let that contract collapse in April of this year, they created a dangerous gap in information for millions of Americans. Even when helpful AI systems are in place, Republicans find ways to them.
▶ 1:53:49Despite impressive advances, I'm concerned about letting the fast growing AI industry go unchecked, especially in critical areas like emergency communications. If House Republicans reconciliation bill becomes law, states will lose the ability to enforce new AI regulations for 10 years. Uh, Mr. Ramsanali, what are the risks of underregulating AI technology in emergency communications and how might that endanger lives?
▶ 1:54:18I I think you made the point well of when these systems aren't tested well, when they're deployed too quickly, that can endanger lives. Uh I also want to go back to your point on the uh the weather data. The National Weather Service is part of Noah, which is in the commerce department. Part of what these AI systems that can do weather, part of what they're trained on is data that Noah produces. Think about buoys in the ocean that know when a tsunami is coming because we too are a Pacific country. That data is managed by employees of Noah.
▶ 1:54:45So when the science agencies hit a cut, that's the kind of work that I get worried about. Great. Thank you. With that, I yield back. The chair recognizes Mr. Carter for five minutes of questions. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank each of you for being here. You know, AI is fascinating, but it's also daunting, particularly for those of us who don't consider ourselves experts in this area, but uh just about every profession. I'm a pharmacist, and it's it's going to impact my profession.
▶ 1:55:15It's going to impact almost everything that we can think of. But it but it is daunting and it's uh we know that the advantages are immeasurable. But then again, we got to be careful. Um we we know that it's going to help us in detecting cyber threats, increasing network re uh reliability and spectrum efficiency or combating roocalls. We all want that. But the bene and so the benefits speak for themselves.
▶ 1:55:43But the innovation has got to be balanced. It's got to be balanced with responsibility. And I'm very very concerned, I think we all are, about that. I'm particularly curious about how AI can help us modify and improve and and deploy broadband, especially in rural areas. I have the honor and privilege of representing the entire coast of Georgia, but I have a lot of rural South Georgia as well. In Georgia, we say there's two Georgiaorges. There's Atlanta and everywhere else. Well, I represent everywhere else.
▶ 1:56:12and and there's a lot of rural area in South Georgia. Mr. Pickering, um how how can federal policy promote equitable access to AI powered tools and services particularly in rural and underserved areas? Well, one thing that this committee has spoken uh earlier this year to address is how the the bead funds need to go out as quickly as possible.
▶ 1:56:35the speed to bead and to be able to cut the red tape so that that the deployment of broadband networks to rural parts of the country like your district can can proceed as quickly as possible with as little regulatory red tape as possible. AI can help us on the permitting side both for the local mayor, city council to be able to have the resources through AI to solve permitting issues to make it faster so that you can build faster.
▶ 1:57:05Uh as many of the panelists have talked about wireless coverage in rural areas can be improved by AI and the spectrum management and how our networks uh operate and interoperate operate. So for for rural America, AI on our networks, on our broadband deployments, I'll give you one last example.
▶ 1:57:26We have a company that is building in the Midwest and they're able through an AI software application to to know when a contractor is completing a fiber deployment by the square foot and they can pay them in real time. And so the incentive is to build faster because as soon as they build they can get paid. And so that's just one example. That's a nice incentive and for someone who was in business for 32 years, I can assure you that's a nice incentive.
▶ 1:57:54Another component of AI that I think is critical for our race is um from 5G to 6G and the technology there. I believe that we're in another arms race with our adversaries such as China and we need to be first in the world to reach 6G. The salt typhoon, all of you remember that last year was a Chinese sponsored infiltration of nine major American telecommunications companies, networks, and systems. Mr.
▶ 1:58:20Sheay, what lessons did we did the industry learn from the from the Saul typhoon cyber attack? What we did we learn anything? I mean, I'm not really qualified on on cyber security to comment. Um, I just know that, you know, it was a substantial penetration and there certainly is a lot of concern in the industry. Anyone on the panel want to take a stab at that? Good. I win. I baffled the count. I I I did it. I I've been doing wanting to do that for 11 years.
▶ 1:58:49So, thank y'all. What What do you think is the um is the role, Mr. Shay, of um of AI in improving um spectral efficiency and resilience in national critical infrastructure? Well, we think, you know, as I mentioned in my testimony, we've we're trying to share bands with incumbent users that are very mobile and prior attempts were very slow. They took maybe minutes to make a spectrum change.
▶ 1:59:13I think with AI, you can in a matter of milliseconds understand what's happening in the spectrum and have the people that are using the band that are not the incumbent user make accommodation for the accommodate for the user. So, I think it's opening a whole new world for spectrum sharing. Great. Again, I want to thank all of you for being here. And I want to remind you for for many of us, for most of us, I would go as far as to say this is fascinating, but it's also daunting. And it's also quite honestly scary. So bear with us.
▶ 1:59:43Thank you, and I yield back. The chair recognizes Mr. Menendez for five minutes of questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm deeply concerned that we're sitting here while our colleagues across the aisle push for deregulation of AI at the same time that the Trump administration is weaponizing AI to make Americans less safe. Let me explain.
▶ 2:00:05People across the country are and should be concerned by recent reports that the Trump administration is using Palunteer's AI technology to consolidate Americans most sensitive data from AC across federal agencies into one centralized database. This data could include Americans medical history, disability status, bank account numbers, immigration status, and even real-time geoloccation information.
▶ 2:00:29Make no mistake, the Trump administration is taking this unprecedented step to create a surveillance apparatus and is doing so with zero oversight from congressional Republicans. While I'm in favor of making government more efficient, we have known for years that synthesizing this much sensitive information into one centralized database is ripe for abuse and makes us all vulnerable to cyber attacks. Mr.
▶ 2:00:52Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to enter this article from the New York Times about the Trump administration using AI to merge government data into the record. Without objection, Mr. Mr. Rams Zenali, you highlight in your testimony that AI has been used in troubling ways spec specifically as it relates to surveillance.
▶ 2:01:12In a few words, how could the Trump administration's use how could the Trump administration use Palunteer's AI technology and a centralized database of Americ's most sensitive information to monitor and track our constituents? Citizens give a lot of government to their data and they have to. That's part of the social contract we have for the services. You need to be able to do that.
▶ 2:01:33In the 1970s when the privacy act was passed, the fear of a combined database that's going on right now, that was the exact fear for the reason that the 1974 privacy act was created because they didn't think at that time Congress thought that it we should be afraid of a government that knows everything about its citizens and and think about how much more right data we're providing to the federal government to make government work for our constituents, right?
▶ 2:01:56and they should have confidence that in doing so that information that they provide, some of their most sensitive information will not be weaponized or used against them. Is that correct? That's right. When we want people to have trust that when they're providing information, it should be truthful. We want people to give the IRS truthful information without fear that it'll be abused somewhere else. Correct. And as AI tools become more advanced, is there a need for high-end consumer protections for the government's collection of sensitive data? Absolutely.
▶ 2:02:27Yes. Can you expand on that? Uh there's a lot of princes, not only has the technology changed, our thinking on privacy has also changed. Uh there are new principles like data minimization uh principles that the the privacy act has some of those, but we can go much further and not just collection, but we should minimize what we retain and what we process and how we link those databases. Great. The last piece of major federal privacy legislation was passed in 1998. That's almost 30 years ago before many of the major social media platforms were even launched.
▶ 2:02:57Even so, my GOP colleagues continue to sit here and repeatedly call for Congress to avoid any guard rails on the use of AI at both the federal and state level. In fact, the reconciliation package that passed the House just two weeks ago included a decadel long moratorum on any state law that addresses AI. Just yes or no. Are common sense AI guardrails critical for protecting Americans data from being weaponized? Yes.
▶ 2:03:23And would the Republicans moratorium of state AI legislation wipe away the current guard rails that protect Americans from their data being misused and weaponized? Yes. So, while the Trump administration is using AI to collect and exploit American sensitive data, House Republicans are rolling back AI regulations and preventing states from filling in the existing regulation gap with their own policies to with their own policies to protect our constituents.
▶ 2:03:51This will leave the American people without any protections as the Trump administration uses AI to act recklessly with their data and we will miss a short window to pass meaningful legislation at both the state and federal level. The bottom line is that the Trump administration cannot continue to misuse sensitive data with impunity. Congress must act to implement common sense guard rails on the government's use of AI technology. quickly.
▶ 2:04:17Um, with respect to the consolidation of Americans information across federal agencies, it's not something that we've seen before. It's unprecedented. And does it make us more or less cyber secure as a country? Less. It makes us way more vulnerable. And if you were China or Russia or North Korea, right, and you knew that the federal government was consolidating our sensitive uh data into one database, would that not be your prime target to attack and hack?
▶ 2:04:46I'd be shocked if it's not already their prime target. I agree. Thank you so much. The chair recognizes Mr. Dunn for five minutes of questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. This committee has vast jurisdiction over technologies AI being no exception. And along with this committee, I also serve on speaker Johnson's uh AI task force led by my friend uh Mr. Obernolulti from California.
▶ 2:05:12We focused uh on AI regulations uh regulations on AI labeling, watermarking standards uh to harmful risks such as deep fakes, fraud prevention, cyber security protocols, etc. We need America to be at the forefront of the technology, not China. President Trump also made uh important decisions around this, including his executive orders to remove barriers to American leadership in AI and advance AI education for American youth.
▶ 2:05:43Congressional action is necessary to support these efforts and protect Americans from serious risks, but also to support innovation. startups and small businesses are already benefiting from AI and specifically with telecom prioritizing advancement of the American global competitiveness uh in 5G and 6G uh growth is really in the top of everybody's mind. So I'd like to take everything into uh account on that.
▶ 2:06:11A current example is finding and acquiring the resources to build new data centers. Uh, Representative Pickering, um, I want to pivot for a moment to the realities my district faces, which due to natural disasters that affect the Florida panhandle, we we rely heavily on emergency preparedness and response. And as technology advances, emergency alerts and updates, uh, telecommunications networks are are a welcome advancement.
▶ 2:06:41And I support the FirstNet emergency telecom network in my district. Firstn net is up for reauthorization in 2027 and these emergency networks are crucial for us. Uh so given incompasses proven success in a wide range of communication networks and backup infrastructure, how do you see AI being used for public safety and how do we protect emergency networks and systems from you know people in China?
▶ 2:07:10It's a great question and this is where OAN and AI can really help on the public safety front and in predicting a natural disaster and then in response to it. One of the great problems in any disaster is the communication of local public safety with federal public safety, whether it's FEMA or Homeland Security.
▶ 2:07:32And by using AI to to create better interoperability of the networks and the communications, the response and the recovery and the prediction of any natural disaster, I think through AI will be improved. And you know I'd welcome any other uh comment from the panel that that this is really where we can strengthen first net with AI applications and the networks that that are coming through the AI movement.
▶ 2:08:01Thank you for that. Mr. Shay, you spoke about US leadership in AI and and deep syncs tech like your AI native capabilities coupled with open RAN networks will reduce costs to replace custom hardware and allow us to better compete with uh China and whatnot specifically Huawei. Can you elaborate on your company's vision?
▶ 2:08:25how you see that uh entrepreneurship leading to uh you know the conversations but also the actions of the companies and creating new technologies. Well as I've mentioned before OAN is just enabling this by disagregating the network into you know components that can be built with individual commodity based servers. So what it's letting companies like deepig do is participate with other companies to come up very cost competitive technology. You know, when you buy a server, you have many, many options.
▶ 2:08:51And so, by not getting away from custom hardware, you can go commodity on the actual hardware components of it. And now the actual radio units are what's left. And through the NTIA program, there's been a great effort to reduce the cost and simplify these these radio units so they can also be part of the cost reduction. So, we think this is going to really help drive competition, which will ultimately drive down cost. Thank you very much. In the few seconds left of us, Mr. Vashida, uh, can we utilize spectrum bands for wireless advancement?
▶ 2:09:21I mean, I think that's important, but we're not we're not I know we're not in a classified setting, but to the extent that you can, will you share your thoughts on how our military can diversify its spectrum usage to remain, you know, innovative and stay Yeah.
▶ 2:09:37Um this is where actually um the ability for AI to do dynamic spectrum allocation, dynamic spectrum sharing with 4G and 5G and um sensing of the spectrum can be really beneficial because many of those applications can be very beneficial for military applications as well as you mentioned earlier public safety.
▶ 2:10:00So bringing AI and the spectrum together um as well as of course additional spectrum that can be made available in the six for the 6G domain I think is uh one of the real benefits of AI. Well th thank you for mentioning dynamic sharing. That's what I wanted to get from you. I appreciate that. You'll bet the chair recognizes Ms. Mlen for five minutes. Thank you Madam Chair.
▶ 2:10:26Um, this is probably one of the most important hearings that we're going to have all year. Um, and I want to put this in a little bit of context about why I'm so excited about it and to hear from you. So, I graduated law school in 1997 and rather than practicing toxic tort litigation like I thought I was going to, uh, I began working for an incumbent local exchange company implementing the telecom act and spent 25 years in that industry.
▶ 2:10:55And I saw the transition from the princess phone plugged into the wall to this to telephones in people's sunglasses. Um, and how rapidly that transition changed as we got farther and farther away from 1997. And at my last legal conference uh in that job um I heard some statistics and this was in 2018.
▶ 2:11:22I heard some statistics about AI and the ability of AI to create fake news being on pace to outpace its ability to detect it. Um and and we talked about then we were in the fourth industrial revolution and we talked about how with each industrial revolution just as it brought advancements they brought extraordinary challenges.
▶ 2:11:47Um, I think I don't know if we're on the way to the fifth industrial revolution with the transition from 5G to 6G and how fast AI is um is evolving. But I think we are woefully behind getting ahead of the challenges. Um, yesterday I was speaking to a a a group and they asked me specifically about AI.
▶ 2:12:12What is Congress not talking about that it should and what are industry leaders not talking about that they should? And lo and behold, there was an article in Axios on May 28th called AI job jobs danger sleepwalking into a white collar blood bath where Daario Emodi said that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white collar jobs and spike unemployment to 10 to 20% in the next 1 to five
▶ 2:12:42years. Um, Madam Chair, I would ask unanimous consent to uh introduce this article into the record so I can get straight to my questions about it. Without objection. Um, we haven't I'm actually shocked we haven't heard any questions yet about workforce.
▶ 2:13:03Um, but for all of the witnesses, how can industry and Congress work together to manage this work, this workforce transition that is coming? It came in every industrial revolution. But the difference is here, it's going to happen so fast that I don't know if we're going to have time to retrain workers. I don't know if there'll be jobs to retrain them, too.
▶ 2:13:28And I don't know if we can adjust school curriculum fast enough to teach today's students what they need when they graduate to succeed in this new world. So what should we be thinking about to address that issue? One recommendation that I would have is uh in the bead program there's both deployment and non-deployment.
▶ 2:13:53Louisiana, which a Republican state on the forefront, they're using about 60% of their funding to deploy and connect every Louisianaian and about 40% in workforce training. So, if you think about AI, basically what are AI networks that will take the AI applications and content over the broadband networks that we're building and the infrastructure that we're building, but you have to complement it with workforce.
▶ 2:14:20So, Minion Klyber and I uh work together with Encompass in the AI uh competition center and one of our key pillars is AI workforce and everybody at this table, Nvidia is extremely engaged in AI workforce training.
▶ 2:14:36Microsoft, Google, Amazon, the companies that are building the AI models realize that if we don't start from K through 12, community college and university and adult retraining and workforce that this huge transformation in the benefits could be jeopardized uh for the the good that it could do. But we need to train now and use some of the bead money in flexibility for both deployment and training. Maybe I'll just quickly follow on from that.
▶ 2:15:04AI gives tremendous opportunity for um distribution and of training. Um the ability to provide individual students one-on-one tutoring rather than sitting in a classroom and listening to one one teacher train at the same pace for instance. But that also requires communications network as well.
▶ 2:15:25And the ability to provide that connectivity to every person where they need it and every student when they need it I think enables us to train quickly as mentioned before by Mr. figuring and Nvidia is very much engaged with many ISVS meaning independent software vendors that are dep developing those types of applications such that they can be delivered over the network and then of course as I said earlier the ability to provide a very competitive US telecommunications infrastructure provider
▶ 2:15:56will also bring many jobs here to the US. Thank you Madam Chair. I hope the other two will send me their responses uh for the record and I yield The chair recognizes Mr. Joyce for five minutes. Thank you, chair and ranking member for holding today's hearing. Thank you to the witnesses who have agreed to come here and testify. My district in Pennsylvania and throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is on its way to becoming one of the epicenters of data centers throughout America.
▶ 2:16:26The energy resources that sit beneath the feet of my constituents is what makes these centers viable. While AI has the potential to continue to be developed, without the significant energy capabilities and the technology will ultimately become ineffective.
▶ 2:16:45This demand for massive energy capabilities fundamentally goes hand in hand with the need for fiber Fiber provides the backh hall that is needed for data centers. But without the right permitting laws in place, we will be incapable of speedy deployment. If we continue to inhibit the growth and the deployment of fiber with obstacle after obstacle, then we are at risk of losing the AI race to China.
▶ 2:17:15You have all stated that and acknowledged that here this morning. This is particularly true when it comes to deploying fiber under, across, and around railroad tracks. The continual delays, unreasonable permitting, the back and forth between providers and rail are causing massive problems for my constituents whose homes reside near these tracks and rely on providers to deploy to their homes. Mr.
▶ 2:17:44Vasishta, how are you developing and innovating your technology to address the growing demands of AI? Do you concur that fiber is a necessary backbone of this system? And what type of technology you see becoming critical in the future to network security as the demand for AI continues to develop? Um so yes we we do agree that the back hauling of data centers is very important and fiber plays a critical role in enabling that to happen.
▶ 2:18:14Um if you think about the compute density of uh or the density of compute required for AI, it can be at the chip level, it can be at the data center level, it can be at the campus level or multiple data centers and the connectivity at all those points within a data center or data center data data center relies um often upon fiber networks.
▶ 2:18:37One of the things that we're continuously doing is innovating in that ability to provide low power but also optical connections and fiber connections to enable that to happen. Mr. Pickering Encompass has been a great supporter of my legislation that is focused on streamlining the railroad permitting process. The intersection of fiber deployment and railroad tracks is just one of the many obstacles that providers such as your members face.
▶ 2:19:06I am the grandson of Pennsylvania railroad workers. I know how important the rail was for connecting east to west throughout America. I know that Polish and Irish and German immigrants built that connectivities. Yet, I feel the rail industry is no longer responsive to understanding that connections do occur via rail, but they need to connect with the ability for fiber to go between, under, and around those rail crossings.
▶ 2:19:35How are these permitting relays delaying and giving that advantage to China when rail is not cooperative in the United States? Thank you and thank you for your leadership on this this issue. Whether it is our companies who are building long route a fiber routes or fiber to the home and fiber to the community when they get to the railroad track there's a regulatory gap.
▶ 2:19:58It's it's one of the few places that from a permitting right-of-way perspective, there's no regulatory oversight. So, the FCC does not have oversight of rail crossings and the Federal Rail Administration has no regulatory oversight.
▶ 2:20:15And as a result, there's no incentive for the rail industry to work with another network industry, the broadband fiber industry to give them fair access, timely access, and an actual cost to cross their railroad. And as a result, we have story after story of up to 18 months of delays of being able to to build.
▶ 2:20:36And if you're a fiber company with capital that is just waiting and losing your your money and your time to build to to the other side of the tracks to close the digital divide, then you're not going to build there or you're going to avoid or it just cost all the community uh the lost time and opportunity for a broadband uh connection.
▶ 2:20:57The other thing up sometimes we we hear exorbitant fees of up to $40,000 a crossing making deployments uh uneconomic to be able to build and deploy. So this is a major problem and legislation is a is a very important progress that that I hope that we can make in this Congress and the permitting reform ahead.
▶ 2:21:20The connectivity that rail allowed America to achieve a century ago needs to continue today with the deployment of fiber and the ability of rail to cooperate with this development unfortunately now needs to be legislated. I look forward to doing that. I thank all of the witnesses for being present today and I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. The chair recognizes Miss Caster for five minutes. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. Uh and thank you to the witnesses for being here.
▶ 2:21:49I am excited about the potential for AI uh all of the advancements and efficiencies in con uh communications networks and in our lives and thank you for pressing this committee on our responsibility to adopt a national framework.
▶ 2:22:07Uh the problem is that my GOP colleagues have abdicated that responsibility and what they did in sneaking in this 10-year AI immunity moratorum takes us off track takes us away from the debate we should be having on that actual framework and instead we are we're going to uh have to fight over this big gift to to big tech contained in the billionaire tax giveaway.
▶ 2:22:36It's it's really unfortunate. And let me say to all of the uh state and local leaders out there, I really do appreciate everything that you have done uh while Congress has been absent, while Congress has abdicated its responsibility in this area. And I want to make sure that that we know this is a bipartisan issue across the country.
▶ 2:22:58The National Association of Attorneys General and 40 of them have written to us that the impact of such a broad moratorium would be sweeping and wholly destructive of reasonable state efforts to prevent known harms associated with AI.
▶ 2:23:15They had previously recommended that the Congress act on a framework especially addressing high-risk uh areas and ra but rather than follow the recommendation uh instead the this immunity for big tech and AI um again takes us off track. So let me try to get us on track on some of these these uh provisions. Yes or no for all of you?
▶ 2:23:38If Congress were to act and a framework, would you agree that we should address uh AI having highly sexualized conversation with minors, even encouraging minors to harm themselves? Is that an area that we should address? Yes or no? Yes. Child safety. Yes. Yes. At the federal level. Sorry, what was the question again?
▶ 2:24:03Should when we're re when Congress is going to adopt a framework, is this a topic that we should address? I think that's an important topic. Yeah, I'd agree for minors particularly. Yes. Okay. Definitely. Yes. How about um you know a number of cities have banned AIdriven rent setting software uh used by large landlords after evidence that they were using algorithms uh colluding to push rents up and reduce housing availability.
▶ 2:24:32Is this a topic for a national framework and and yes or no? And let me just Can you do yes or no? I have limited time or you can pass. Well, existing civil rights laws I think cover I think I'm going have to pause if that's an option. Yeah. Likewise, I'm not much into regulation. Thank you. Yes. Okay. How about um some of the uh let's see, there was another good example here. How about just plain transparency?
▶ 2:25:01So that a consumer understands when they are u that AI is on their phone or u guiding their decisions. Yes or no? As long as it's in a federal framework. Yes. 50 different state transparency requirements. No. I think transparency is always Yeah. I agree with that. People should understand what's they're being working with. Yes.
▶ 2:25:28So I wonder also At the end of the last Congress in December, they issued a bipartisan house task force report on artificial intelligence. Have you all read this? Yes, Mr. Pickering. No. No, I haven't either. Sorry. You have? Did you um It's just very interesting. I'm going to ask, Madam Chair, that we put in the record the key findings relating to preeemption.
▶ 2:25:55that bipartisan work group that some of the members of the committee here uh sat on, they said federal preeemption of state law on AI issues is complex, has federal preeemption has benefits and drawbacks. Uh it can allow state action subject to floor or ceilings. Uh but the ultimate recommendation is that the Congress continue to study this.
▶ 2:26:19Nowhere in here does it say that we should sneak in a 10-year uh immunity moratorum for all AI regulation. Um Mr. Ramsali um did the is the Congress being consistent here? Uh I think you have it right.
▶ 2:26:38Um, Senator Blackburn recently had a very great reasonable view on this, which was Congress shouldn't have a moratorum, but it should consider preeemption when reasonable protections are being put in place in a similar area. And that applies because her state of Tennessee has the Elvis Act, right? She has the federal bill, but that makes sense to preempt when that debate should happen when it's time. Thank you very much, and I yield back. The chair recognizes Miss Hen for five minutes. Thank you, Madam Chair.
▶ 2:27:07Thanks to the witnesses for your testimony today. Um, artificial intelligence is no longer a faroff concept. It's already changing how we live, work, and communicate. But its success still depends on the basics. Fast, reliable broadband infrastructure, access to spectrum, cyber security, and reliable energy. For rural communities like in southern Indiana, like mine, and across the country, those fundamentals are not always guaranteed.
▶ 2:27:35That's why I'm fighting to close the digital divide and make sure that those uh southern or those uh small communities aren't left behind. Today, I want to highlight just a few key priorities. Uh first, we need common sense permitting reform to cut red tape and get broadband and wireless projects off the ground faster. Second, we should be harnessing the power of AI to speed up deployment and strengthen our cyber security.
▶ 2:27:59It's especially important for small providers who don't have the massive teams or unlimited resources to keep up with compliance and ongoing threats. We should also be prioritizing the deployment of clean, reliable energy like SMRs uh small modular nuclear reactors to power AI and uh data centers. I hope we can focus on how Washington can be a partner, not a barrier, in driving innovation and expanding the reach of responsible AI across sectors and communities. Uh, Mr.
▶ 2:28:29Pickering, you've emphasized that universal broadband access is a prerequisite to universal AI access. What specific barriers are your members running into most often? And where can Congress help? What you had mentioned earlier in your comments, common sense permitting reform would be at the top of our list. creating uh AI connectors in corridors.
▶ 2:28:52For example, you may uh be building a long fiber route from an urban area to a rural area like in Indiana and it may not be economic to have the long route fiber that connects data center hubs.
▶ 2:29:09So making that eligible for bead as well as permitting reform because once you get the data center hubs what what will happen next is a second wave which will be advanced manufacturing that I believe will be coming to rural and remote parts of the country that would never be considered in the old world with old technology as a manufacturing hub.
▶ 2:29:29But in AI and with advanced manufacturing if as long as you have energy and if you have data centers and if you have fiber then you will see the economic growth come to the middle parts of the country not just the coastal and so uh I would encourage permitting reform and bead flexibility. Yeah, I have been a chief proponent for bead flexibility.
▶ 2:29:50Um, removing some of the more costly aspects of bead that that are not uh resulting in uh deployment of those uh of those funds to broadband uh as well as uh technology neutrality. Um is there a role for AI itself in helping to accelerate permitting? Could federal support for AI based project review tools actually make the deployment process faster and more predictable?
▶ 2:30:16The great thing about AI, it is going to be the greatest technological advancement in human productivity and and in in the history of the world. And when you apply it to whether it is rushing new cancer treatments through FDA approval, the iterative ability to speed uh cancer treatment can also be applied to everyday practical things like how do we permit faster? How do we plan better?
▶ 2:30:45and the and the AI applications in every part of American life can make us more productive and faster in every area. And what's your take on proposals that classify AI supporting infrastructure like data centers or high-capacity fiber? Uh if what what do you um what do you uh if we were to classify those as infrastructure eligible for a fasttrack in permitting? Is that necessary? Yes.
▶ 2:31:14We're we're in a critical race against China and whatever we can do, especially on the multi-state energy deployments and fiber deployments, we need some type of national framework that consolidates reviews, accelerates reviews, and approves in a time-sertain manner.
▶ 2:31:31And to um to all the witnesses, if Congress could pass just one reform this year, whether it's related to permitting, inter agency coordination, targeted incentives, what would have the greatest impact on unlocking AI's potential across the US economy? Mr. Pickering, I'll start with you.
▶ 2:31:49you know is um just remember infrastructure whether it was the internet infrastructure of the previous age once we built fiber long haul satellites that were digital cable that was digital and then we had all of the infrastructure in place on the wireless and wired side you could then do something like this the same thing is going to be true in AI applications if you build the infrastructure that is now both
▶ 2:32:19energy and fiber and other broadband networks of all technologies at the data center. It will unleash unlimited new research, new manufacturing, precision agriculture and all of the different uh uses that we think will grow the economy. Since my time has expired, agree, disagree, agree, agree also. I would prioritize other things. Okay. Thank you.
▶ 2:32:47I yield The chair recognizes Mr. Lansman for five minutes. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. I I want to talk about the uh satellite verse fiber broadband uh you know, which seems to be at the heart of this conversation in terms of where we go long term and whether or not we have the capacity. Um I want to uh pick up where you just left off, which is your your different priorities. I'd love to to hear those.
▶ 2:33:15um as it relates to what we should be doing. Uh uh but the the the the question I have, fair or not, is whether or not broadband and fiber, which we know matters more. It's more reliable. It it it's what's going to power all of this.
▶ 2:33:44um versus satellite that satellite has the advantage because of folks like Elon Musk, right? Because he's he's got Starlink and this is what he's pushing and he's obviously got enormous influence. Maybe that's changed over the last 48 hours. I don't know. Um do you worry about this?
▶ 2:34:04I mean it that satellite will somehow you know get the best of of us uh you all in terms of resources do you see that you know is this a sort of a just a starling thing uh where is the power coming from on the broadband fiber side Mr. for bickering and that that's not a setup. I'm just curious. I So, Encompass has members that are fiber, wireless, fixed wireless and LEO satellite.
▶ 2:34:33Uh Amazon's Kyper that just launched and is competing for broadband grants across the country and competing against Starlink. Uh we think competition and LEO's and fiber and wireless and everything will make it better. And and we think that states having the flexibility to choose whatever technology is best for them. Colorado may need satellite and other places could could densify their fiber and their fixed wireless and that might be a better combination.
▶ 2:35:03But we think the state should decide. I look the great thing is we have new deployments of new networks that I think are so much better on all fronts. Fiber is always going to be the foundational network that everything comes back to wireless, fixed, and satellite. Fiber doesn't have at the moment, and I'm not trying to be funny or it's just they don't fiber doesn't have a, you know, the world's richest man saying, you know, invest in fiber or broadband.
▶ 2:35:33And I agree. I mean, obviously, every state's different, but we have to provide the regulatory and investment framework. And I'm I'm worried as we all should be that that you know one guy and the thing that he owns in Starlink is going to have more influence than what we know to be true which is that yes every state's different but for the most part fiber and and and the broadband is the most reliable. Can you just share where what you were going to say? Yeah. It was a good question in terms of where should we go and what we should be investing in.
▶ 2:36:03I just want to it it is a good question. And I think you're right that uh I'd actually say the work's already been done. This subcommittee, this committee, this this Congress passed the bipartisan infrastructure law that had specific instructions on how to implement the law. The work was done to think about what that means for different technologies and the NTIA. Um that this administration has paused that they want to revisit. They they get the authority to put their policy priorities on top of it. But that work was done. That that's how we got to a fiber preference.
▶ 2:36:33The way I think about this historically is rural electrification. We got electricity to all of America. We would have never put up with a secondass technology for electricity going to Americans. It's a a really good way to frame it. Um I I do think speeding this up. I mean, we have to get this stuff out much more quickly.
▶ 2:36:52And so, um, I hopefully that bipartisan commitment is there and that we'll get to a good place because, you know, this it goes beyond bead and everything else, but we have got to get things out much more quickly. That's all. Thank you so much. I yield back. The chair recognizes Mr. Goldman for five minutes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, thank you to the panel very much for being here today. Um, Mr.
▶ 2:37:20Basa um how is Nvidia ensuring that AI used in telecom infrastructure is resistant to foreign interference especially from adversarial state actors like China. So Nvidia we build the infrastructure that enables the AI uh to be leveraged by our ecosystem of partners whether it be uh original equipment manufacturers or telecom operators or um people developing software.
▶ 2:37:49So as the as the vulnerabilities of the of the the layers of the applications and the software on top of that that's for a lot of our partners are building that in. What we have done though is we've built in the infrastructure underneath that to enable much of that activi those software um vulnerabilities to enable to be exposed. I'll give you an example of what that means.
▶ 2:38:14Um often cyber security can be enabled and created by uh anomaly detection. Um there's a normal pattern of use and data and then there's anomalies and to be able to detect those anomalies fast and at line rate meaning as they happen can happen within that infrastructure that we build.
▶ 2:38:35we have some silicon capability that allows that to happen and the connectivity to allow that to happen right at the edge of the network so it doesn't have the opportunity to infiltrate into the cloud. So that's just part of and just an example of some of the things that we're doing in working with our ecosystem. Thank you very much. Uh Mr.
▶ 2:38:56Pickering, uh Fort Worth in my district has a growing film industry with over 550 million in economic impact since How can encompasses work on AIdriven network improvements like better 5G and fiber connectivity help support for Worth film studios with real-time virtual production and data heavy just like every sector of the of the economy it is enabled by the network it's enabled by the infrastructure and if you have a creative
▶ 2:39:27um u movie production the ability to use AI and then the networks will allow better quality better performance, better distribution, and better and higher value. There's going to be great challenges as we look at the the property rights and the intellectual property in in in this sector, but as far as the infrastructure that then enables every sector to grow, I'm excited about the future for for each sector. Great. Thank you very much.
▶ 2:39:57And uh Mr. Shay, is Deep Sig currently seeing any risk of IP theft or cyber infiltration targeting US defense AI contractors and what counter measures are you or they developing? No, we're very concerned with that. We're not aware of any exfiltration happened of our data, but we spend a lot of effort protecting um our information uh you know having cyber threat detection in our network.
▶ 2:40:21But it's it's a major concern because we know AI technology is right at the forefront of of you know of where the world is going both on the commercial and defense side. So it's a high priority for us. Right. Thank you very much Madam Chair. That's all I have. I yield back. The chair recognizes Mr. Fry for five minutes. Thank you, Madam Chair. You're doing a great job today. So appreciate Um Mr. Pickering, I I was perplexed uh a little bit.
▶ 2:40:48You were talking with Miss Houchin earlier about barriers um that slow down AI related infrastructure buildout and two things that you mentioned were permitting reform and bead flexibility. And I think y'all talked about the bead flexibility a little bit, but specifically when it comes to permitting reform, what do you envision that looking like from a specific policy standpoint? Like what what specifics? So I'll give you an example of a two successful permitting reforms that have happened in recent history.
▶ 2:41:18One was for the small cell deployments that went with 5G. We created a federal framework with shot clocks and time certainty and that if the jurisdiction did not approve within the time certain, it'd be deemed granted. And so the time certainty and predictability is critical.
▶ 2:41:37uh one-touch make ready which means that if one fiber deploys on a pole that they they do all the deployments at one time one touch instead of doing six different you know service trucks for each different company and that accelerated the deployment along polls.
▶ 2:41:56So there are some common sense things but everything is about one touch dig once one review time certainty those types of principles on permitting reform and if you can have national projects for grids pipelines transmission fiber routes that are multi-stake so that you can coordinate a whole of government approach to deploy the infrastructure that we need for the AI race against China at least when when it comes to permitting
▶ 2:42:27uh perspective of you know six different points, one different trigger uh or one one trigger. Would that also in your mind uh if if if a permit was previously issued say a few years ago, would that also you know be almost grandfathered in that that you could use that existing permit for? I'll give you an example. You know, if you have multiple agencies, a lot of times they will all require their own environmental review when you should just have one environmental review that would then be adequate for all the different agencies.
▶ 2:42:57And if you have a review that's a year ago or two years ago and then you have a new part of a construction, they should that previous review should be considered as adequate for the the current uh project if it is not substantially different. So those types of common sense reforms that that I think can protect and preserve our resources in our communities and at the same time speed the deployment that everybody needs today. Thank you. Thank you for that. Mr.
▶ 2:43:26uh Basisha uh Nvidia is on the front lines of both AI and the telecom infrastructure. what role do you see for AI native wireless networks in the transition to uh 6G and how can Congress support uh companies leading that effort um in that transition? Yeah, thanks for the question.
▶ 2:43:44Um as I said in my opening remarks, AI native wireless is really what 6G is going to be about and what I said earlier is that there's a requirement really for help between public private partnership to make that a reality. We need a lot of research to come straight to production.
▶ 2:44:04So with this AI win project that Nvidia is part of with other companies, we're already embarking upon taking research from say MITER to production with say T-Mobile as fast as possible and getting guidance from that. A lot of that relies upon the research that's coming out of the universities and so the accelerant and the enablement of the AI native wireless research.
▶ 2:44:29There's only one other company I said earlier China but I really meant one other company that's kind of working on this AI native approach and that's Huawei um on the world stage and so once we are able to accelerate this within the US we then be able to take these same developed platforms out globally and once again be able to create a global platform for telecommunications within those standards committees. Thank you for that. And you've emphasized software uh defined networks as a gamecher.
▶ 2:44:58How did these networks enhance both performance and cyber security compared to our traditional infrastructure? Yeah, so traditional infrastructure has more of a closed proprietary system. Um, now you might think that's a positive, but the the benefit of having software defined is continuous up continuous integration continuous deployment. So you're able to add features very quickly.
▶ 2:45:21you're able to implement new capabilities much faster than if you had to do that in hardware AI native approaches like jo um integrated sensing and communication which can be um avoid uh can be threat detection you can uh really sense the airwaves for threats that can be a softwaredefined feature that can be integrated by um defense but also in commercial reason commercial aspects thank you for that I see my time has expired madam chair I yield
▶ 2:45:51back. The chair recognizes Miss Kelly for five I'm very excited to see the emergence of artificial intelligence. However, like many emerging technologies, it needs to be implemented with care, weighing the risk posed to American consumers like my constituents back home in Illinois.
▶ 2:46:16As I discussed on our very long markup not too long ago, I joined many of my Democratic colleagues in concern about the reconciliation package, including a 10-year moratorum on state and local enforcement of AI laws. Such a moratorum without federal safeguards in place. These Americans are protected from datadriven discrimination in critical areas such as housing, employment, credit, education, healthcare, and insurance.
▶ 2:46:43It's crucial that we stop bowing to big tech and start doing our job to protect American consumers by addressing the potential for discriminatory outcomes especially as AI technologies advance as at an unprecedented pace both domestically and internationally which brings me to my next point. It is critical that the US is positioned to win the race for global AI leadership which I believe all of us want that. Mr.
▶ 2:47:09Ram Zunali, how will the be program's investment in futurep proof internet infrastructure like fiber allow America to remain a world leader in AI I appreciate that question and your hard work in this area. Uh, as I said in my opening, America can't lead in AI if all Americans don't have access to AI. The way that happens, especially as we think about where the technology might go that requires higher capacity throughput, is through futureproof networks like fiber.
▶ 2:47:38Does anyone have anything else to add? No. Uh, in your testimony, uh, you state that AI's power and usefulness will be fundamentally limited if all Americans are not able to access, uh, that use AI.
▶ 2:47:53Recognizing this, how does the president's unilateral decision to stop funding programs providing digital skills, including AI training, to such groups as seniors, veterans, and the disabled, jeopardize America's ability to innovate in AI ahead of places like China or the Middle East? Uh, the way to think about the the Digital Equity Act programs, maybe I'll give a couple of examples that were in the letter to the record that was submitted earlier.
▶ 2:48:19Uh there's a program in rural Kentucky that was hoping for a digital equity grant that helps seniors with digital digital skills including how to use the internet for job applications. Uh they were helping that they were going to help those seniors also use AI in a way. And so that that's one example. Another example is in uh hurricane Helen the the area that that uh experienced that disaster. They were doing design device access. Those are the kinds of people that need our help in a in a time like that.
▶ 2:48:48So to me, those kinds of programs deserve our support. Thank you. And I yield back. Thank you. The chair recognizes Mr. Keane for five minutes. Thank you, chairwoman. Uh and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. Mr. Sheay, I recently heard from a constituent who lives in Warren County, a rural part of my district in New Jersey.
▶ 2:49:12Her small town is tucked between two steep bridges that flank either side of the Delaware River. Because of the unique geographic features of this area, she and her neighbors frequently have unreliable cells service and even difficulty reaching emergency services. In your testimony, you discuss the cases of integrating AI technology into consumer wireless communications. What about for an application like What about for an application like this?
▶ 2:49:42what integration of AI technology can help overcome uh the challenges posed by difficult geography like this one to keep people connected and able to reach first responders when needed. Well, actually the NTI first no award we received was about how to come up with better ways of measuring the local environment to assure high quality service.
▶ 2:50:03So I think with AI, what's what's called digital twin technology, we're getting a much better understanding how signals propagate and where we can put in small cells to fill in these gaps. So AI, I think, is going to be revolutionary for these type of applications where people have poor service and I think we're going to be seeing the fruits of that, you know, that technology within the next couple years. Thank you. Uh Mr. Pickering.
▶ 2:50:26In your testimony, you discuss how deployment of technologies like fiber networks as a necessary input to demands of AI applications. Given that responsibility for these regulations is shared among several different stakeholders, including the state and local level, how can Congress best facilitate smart forward-looking policies that enable us to compete in AI?
▶ 2:50:51I I think that there's a way in the permitting reforms that that this committee will will put forth that will respect the local jurisdictions and the counties and the states and how they have responsibilities on permitting. What we've tried to do as an industry is is to create a blueprint of best practices and then find voluntary incentives and community engagement.
▶ 2:51:18But on national deployments of multi-state, I do think that there's a a role and across federal lands and federal properties that that this committee can really speed and accelerate the time to deploy and in the as we've been talking earlier, we're in a race with China. We need to build as fast as possible. They're they're not having permitting delays like we have, if they have permitting at all.
▶ 2:51:46And so we need to find a way to speed at every level and give the resources and the technology and the tools and the incentives for the best practices with time certainty, transparency and the best technology tools to permit as fast as possible. you Mr. uh Vashit.
▶ 2:52:07I agree with you that as adds to the critical importance of making sure the United States is a leader in the future of wireless communications on the global stage. What steps do we need to take to make sure the American innovators are leading on AI within international standards setting bodies? Yeah. So let me um take that as a telecommunications question.
▶ 2:52:31Firstly, as we start to look at the definition of the 6G standards, which has already started to happen, uh we America needs to have a very strong voice in the 6G standards both corporately as well as from the NTIA. And I think that's starting to happen.
▶ 2:52:48But we need to really double down on that to make sure that as we define those standards, those standards are defined in a way that is meaningful to our advancement as well as a an AI ran as we call it, which is the infusion of AI and the radio access network.
▶ 2:53:05Um, and as I said before, that's a that's probably something that many others are not really thinking about, but it gives us within the US the opportunity to take that leadership position because we have that AI leadership position. The other thing of course is to make sure that we have most of if not all the developers in the world developing AI on America infrastructure. That's very important.
▶ 2:53:32Many developers around the world don't reside within the US, but we need to make sure they have access to that American infrastructure because that's what improves the capability and the performance of our AI. Uh thank you. Uh I yield back.
▶ 2:53:51The chair recognizes myself for five So AI has been described as not only a powerful tool but an incredible weapon and I don't feel like the public necessarily understands that or sees it exactly that way.
▶ 2:54:12But given that China today produces 10,000 terowatt hours of power a year and the US produces 4,000 terowatt hours of power a year, we're already quite behind. So given this um I'm wondering, you know, do you share this concern, Mr. Pickering, about maybe China being in a better position?
▶ 2:54:38If so, what do we need to do about that? And then also to comfort me and my colleagues, what barriers is China facing in their deployment of AI? So for you know our country uh as you look at what is powering the the data centers that are running the large language models intensive energy demand.
▶ 2:55:04I think new solutions that would bring behind the meter our dedicated energy to the data center is a critical reform that is needed to meet the demand needs today that would not overt tax the existing grid and the residential customer. So that's one solution.
▶ 2:55:25Two, as we've talked about the permitting reforms and this committee and reconciliation has something that addresses multi-state pipeline construction and being able to have a consolidated review and a time certain review on that as we look at traditional energy meeting current demand.
▶ 2:55:45How how can we also look at future uh options and solutions and SMR technology, the small modular nuclear reactors, fusion technology, those types of things that can give us clean energy, reliable, uh abundant energy and a very small footprint that is much safer and much more sustainable. Getting those technologies as quickly as possible into the market.
▶ 2:56:10So X Energy is one of our member companies that has a big uh agreement with AWS and Dominion Utility of Northern Virginia. They came out of one one of our DOE labs. It's an amazing advancement in nuclear technologies very similar to what we do in our nuclear fleets.
▶ 2:56:27And so those types of new solutions long term, but in the short term, building as fast as we can an all of the above strategy and giving data centers the ability to have behindthe-ter solutions or dedicated solutions for the demand today. And no, China does not have barriers or impediments that we do. Shoot, I was hoping there were a few at least. Um, I have a I have questions for a few other of you, but I do want to invite you all my my office.
▶ 2:56:55I'm very concerned about the having the power to meet the demand uh of the moment for AI and so my office is leading an AI and energy working group and I would invite all of you to participate in it. I know Mr. Pickering you are and uh hopefully others are as well but uh we're very much working on this framework of of solutions to meet the energy needs. Um Mr. Sheay, you haven't gotten a question for a bit.
▶ 2:57:22I wanted to ask you from your vantage point as a smaller innovator, what are the specific barriers to deploying AIdriven wireless infrastructure especially in rural underserved areas and what kind of um changes could congress bring about to help that to address those barriers? I think for uh Congress to continue the push at OAN is probably the the the most help that can be provided because we are finding the OAN vendors we work with more forward looking on AI.
▶ 2:57:50They're looking for uh ways to leapfrog technology which is what we need to compete with China. So I I think the openness of that type of standard is is what's key to make this all happen quickly. Excellent. And Mr. Rams she what how do you say your name? Ramzanali. Ramzanali. Um you stated with Mr. Menendez that the moratorum or Mr.
▶ 2:58:14Menendez stated that the moratorium on new state regulations uh that we included in the one big beautiful bill erodess the current frameworks passed by states and you agreed with that statement. So help me understand how that's so when the moratorum is on new regulations and doesn't do anything to the existing regulations that states have already enacted.
▶ 2:58:36So, uh, there's questions about how it applies to privacy laws that are being privacy bills that are being considered and privacy laws that exist because some of them use definitions for automated systems that could be caught up in uh the way that the bill is written. Uh, that that's one way that it could directly go at the privacy concerns. But you agree that the moratorum is on states developing new regulations, not the existing ones.
▶ 2:59:02I would have to read it more closely, but I I believe there's been some debate about how that would be applied, and that's the kind of thing that would take a while for state for courts to work out, too. Okay, let's see. Seeing there are no further members wishing to be recognized, I would like to thank our witnesses for being here today, I ask unanimous consent to insert in the record the documents included on the staff hearing documents list. Without objection, that will be the order.
▶ 2:59:31I remind members they have 10 business days to submit questions for the record and I ask the witnesses to respond to the questions promptly. Members should submit their questions by the close of business on Wednesday, July 18th. Without objection, the subcommittee is adjourned. Thank you all.