BEAD
Senators Looking for Briefing from NTIA on SpaceX Rider
The company had sought exemptions from certain BEAD rules.
Satellite
Elon Musk Joins SpaceX and xAI Businesses Into a Single Company, Pre-IPO
Musk's rocket venture announced on Monday that it had bought xAI in an effort to help the world’s richest man dominate rockets and AI.
FCC
SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval For One Million Satellites in Space
The European Space Agency says that 16,910 satellites currently orbit Earth, making this a 5,813% increase over current satellites.
AI
Wikipedia Inks AI Deals with Microsoft, Meta and Perplexity on 25th Birthday
Wikipedia plans to use AI to assist editors and improve search experiences, while addressing criticism of bias and competition from rivals like Grokipedia.
BEAD
SpaceX Doesn’t Want BEAD Payments Tied to Subscriber Milestones
That’s how most states would prefer to disburse the company’s grant awards.
AI
EU Opens Investigation into Musk's AI Chatbot Grok over Sexual Deepfakes
An X spokeswoman said the platform remains committed to safety and has zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity.
Spectrum
Carriers and Satellite Companies at Odds on Millimeter Wave Spectrum
Satellite operators want easier access, which mobile providers fear would upend licenses they purchased.
SpaceX
Bezos’s Blue Origin Planning Satellite Broadband Service for Enterprise Customers
The company is planning to begin deployment in late 2027.
SpaceX
FCC Approves 7,500 More Starlink Gen2 Satellites
The agency said the move would improve SpaceX’s satellite broadband service.
Data Center
Big Tech Data Centers: Meta's Massive Nuclear Power Deals, $20B by xAI in Mississippi
Meta's Prometheus AI data center is being built in New Albany, Ohio, and will be a 1-gigawatt cluster spanning spanning multiple buildings.
12 Days of Broadband
2025 Was a Year of More BEAD Turmoil
Based on tentative results, about 65% of BEAD locations are in line for fiber. Another 22% will get satellite, and 10% will get fixed wireless.
Defense Department
Where to Find 800 Megahertz of Spectrum For Auction?
Citizens Broadband Radio Service hasn’t got an explicit defense from the Trump administration, but the FCC hasn’t said it intends to alter it.
BEAD 2026
Who Will Dominate AI: The U.S., China, Both or Neither?
A ‘Sputnick moment’ for AI. A new cold war – the race to superintelligence – is on.
Free Speech
EU Warns of Possible Actions After U.S. Bars 5 Europeans It Accused of Censorship
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the five 'radical' activists, and they include Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner responsible for supervising social media rules.
AI
Humanoid Robots Take Center Stage at Silicon Valley Summit, But Skepticism Remains
The commercial boom in AI has sparked interest in humanoid robots. Around 50 companies are investing heavily in humanoid development.
SpaceX
South Africa Eases Affirmative Action Regulations on Starlink that Musk Said Were Racist
The change affects all foreign-owned satellite internet providers that operate in South Africa.
