Should BEAD Non-Deployment Funds Be Linked to AI? How Should Funds Be Spent?
Experts disagreed on conditioning broadband funding on state AI regulations, balancing digital economy goals against legal constraints.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2025 — A panel of policy experts offered divergent views during a Broadband Breakfast Live Online webinar Wednesday on whether the Trump administration should tie broadband infrastructure funding to state artificial intelligence regulations, as officials project roughly $21 billion in savings from the federal BEAD program.
The debate comes as the White House considers a draft executive order that would condition Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program funds on how states regulate AI. National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Arielle Roth said last week that NTIA is "operating under the assumption that the states will get to use their BEAD savings."
Nathan Leamer, Executive Director of Build American AI, a new advocacy organization, argued that AI deployment should be central to the BEAD program's mission of connecting Americans to the digital economy.
Nathan Leamer
Member discussion