Whether it is lifting net neutrality regulations, allowing AI to reach its full potential to benefit mankind, educating policy makers about content moderation, clearing legacy regulations at the Federal Communications Commission, advocating for greater spectrum efficiency, or defending business practices that benefit consumers but are disliked by antitrust enforcers, CEI punches above its weight. Coalition activity, relationships with tech and telecom journalists, media appearances, policy events, Capitol Hill outreach, op-eds, and in-depth studies combine to make CEI influential in the tech and telecom policy area.
Tech and Telecom Issue Areas
Featured Posts
News Release
Disney sues FCC over alleged ‘retaliatory campaign’ against ABC: CEI analysis
Today, Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), seeking declaratory and injunctive relief in response to the…
Blog
Class is in session: Are educators ready for AI?
From the early internet to modern artificial intelligence (AI), technological change causes panic. News outlets often amplify fears surrounding AI. Teachers and…
Blog
FSC v. Paxton after one year: Age verification moves down the stack
This past June marked the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s FSC v. Paxton decision. The Court held that states may require age…
Search Posts
Forbes
OpenAI Is Now Unambiguously Profit-Driven, And That’s A Good Thing
The recent drama at OpenAI, where CEO Sam Altman was briefly dismissed by the board of directors only to be rapidly reinstated, has sparked discussion…
Legal Brief
Reason Et Al. Netchoice Amicus Brief
INTRODUCTION AND INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE Social media companies, large or small, offer privately owned and mediated spaces for people to associate and…
Blog
Important question: How many people will new AI regulations kill?
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released a draft memorandum outlining new requirements for federal agencies using artificial intelligence…
Comment
OMB Proposed Memorandum on Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence.
December 5, 2023 Docket ID: OMB–2023–0020 Proposed Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management…
Comment
Comments on Proposed Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence
To Shalanda D. Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit public interest organization…
Blog
Central banks are watching. Let’s watch them back.
One of the biggest dangers of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), I and others have warned, is that it would give a government…
News Release
Ex Google CEO’s Call for UN Organization Focused on Artificial Intelligence Would Be a “Historic Mistake”
At a forum on Artificial Intelligence in Washington today, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt endorsed the idea of an international body like the…
Forbes
Effective Altruism Contributed To The Fiasco At OpenAI
In a surprising turn of events, OpenAI’s board abruptly fired co-founder and CEO Sam Altman on Friday. Following a backlash on social media, the…
Op-Eds
Creating An IPCC For AI Would Be A Historic Mistake
The recent artificial intelligence safety summit convened by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has revived a bad idea—creating an “…
National Review
Biden Order on Artificial Intelligence Puts Too Much Faith in Regulators
President Biden’s executive order (EO) on artificial intelligence (AI) directs more than a dozen federal agencies to, among other things, “establish…
News Max
AI Not Science Fiction and Can Wreck Our Lives
News Max cites CEI’s James Broughel on the AI reality: Writing for Forbes, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute James Broughel did…
Forbes
Biden’s New AI Executive Order Is Regulation Run Amok
Signed yesterday, President Biden’s new executive order on artificial intelligence safety is already making waves across the technology industry. While the intention…
News Release
Biden EO on artificial intelligence rushes in with regulation rather than problem-solving: CEI analysis
The Biden administration today released further details about the president’s executive order on regulating artificial intelligence. CEI Senior Fellow James Broughel, author of a…
News Release
Biden executive order on artificial intelligence will be a problem: CEI analysis
President Biden is reportedly poised to sign an executive order aimed at monitoring artificial intelligence technology and moving toward new regulations for AI. CEI experts…
Forbes
Biden Gambles On Industrial Policy Tech Hubs
The Biden administration last week announced the designation of 31 regional “tech hubs” across the United States, as part of a new…
Blog
FCC wants European-style broadband regulation, would throttle American consumers
Aristotle said that nature abhors a vacuum so that every space in nature must be filled. Apparently, the FCC has taken inspiration from ancient…
Forbes
Net Neutrality Resurfaces To Join The Bidenomics Regulatory Costberg
“It was always about government control.” —Commissioner Brendan Carr, Federal Communications Commission Open Meeting, October 2023 Just in time for Halloween,…
Study
Rules for Robots – A framework for governance of AI
Introduction With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies in recent years, we have seen increasing calls for regulation to mitigate…
Blog
Don’t drink the water: Why FCC treating broadband like a utility could make service worse
In its initial Fact Sheet, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes to apply Title II of the Communications Act to affirm “that broadband…
Blog
Net neutrality is political predation
It’s fitting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chose to dig up the net neutrality corpse just before Halloween. Now, our elected representatives need…
Blog
Here we go again: FCC tries to bring back failed ‘net neutrality’ regulation
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposed rulemaking to apply Title II of the Communications Act and common carrier regulation once…
Blog
In today’s age of musical abundance, we all live like ‘kings’
We are in the midst of an art renaissance, and very few people are talking about it. One person who is talking about it…
Forbes
DC Politicians Roll Out The Red Carpet For Big Tech At AI Meeting
America’s tech luminaries gathered in Washington, D.C. this week, ostensibly to “educate” senators on the nuances of artificial intelligence. The convening, referred to as…
News Release
DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google Would Protect Competing Search Engines, Not Consumers
This week, the trial resulting from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google parent company Alphabet begins in a Washington, DC…
Fox News
Snapchat expands into AI with ‘Dreams’ tool: Tech frontiers ‘are messy places,’ expert warns
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is cited on Fox News about the AI Dream Tool: “We’ll see if people think this is super fun…
Fox News
We need to avoid a ‘ready, fire, aim!’ approach to AI regulation
The panic to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) came almost immediately after last fall’s release of ChatGPT popularized the technology with the public. Some…
Blog
Don’t regulate AI. Defund it.
Just yesterday, Smart Home speakers were infuriating us with their confused and stubborn responses to simple questions. These days, the ascent of something closer…
Blog
CEI Hill event shows how the FTC is burdening small businesses
Many have praised Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for her commitment to regulate “big business.” Under her leadership, the FTC…
Study
FTC’s Subscription Deception
Proposed Negative Option Rule has no opt-out from bureaucratic overreach Introduction The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a Negative* Option Rule Notice…
Forbes
Careful: Misbegotten Government-Business “Blueprints” Can Lobotomize Artificial Intelligence
Atop numerous directives and another of Washington’s periodic “Bill of Rights” proclamations misconstruing who is protected from what by such…
Forbes
AI Economics Must Avoid The Ethical Mistakes Of Climate Economics
Artificial intelligence (AI) has garnered significant public attention in recent months, especially since the groundbreaking launch of the large language model, ChatGPT. Some of…
Blog
Big tech firms pushing AI regulation are not seeking the public interest
Large Language Models (LLMs) have taken the internet by storm thanks to programs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s new Bing chatbot. These are opening…
Forbes
How Regulating AI Could Empower Bad Actors
A bipartisan group of legislators in the House of Representatives has introduced a bill to establish a national commission on Artificial Intelligence…
National Review
FTC Continues War on Bigness by Opposing Microsoft Video-Game Acquisition
The FTC is doubling down on its opposition to Microsoft’s acquisition of video-game company Activision Blizzard by filing to block the merger in…
Fox Business
Banking industry pushes back on CFPB’s warning over use of AI chatbots
Fox Business quotes CEI’s John Berlau on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent advisory: John Berlau, the Competitive Enterprise…
Fox News
Banking industry pushes back on CFPB’s warning over use of AI chatbots
Fox News quotes CEI’s John Berlau on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent advisory regarding artificial intelligence in customer service:…
News Release
Surgeon General lacks evidence for warning against social media for young people
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy today issued a public advisory against alleged risks of social media use to the mental health…
Fox Business
VIDEO: CEI’S Jessica Melugin Joins Fox Business to Discuss Twitter’s New CEO and the ‘unintended consequences’ of Children Using A.I.
Competitive Enterprise Institute Center for Technology & Innovation director Jessica Melugin discusses Twitter’s new CEO and the ‘unintended consequences’ of children using A.I.
The American Institue for Economic Research
The FTC should answer its Call of Duty to Gamers
The American Institute for Economic Research cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on the Microsoft-Activision merger: The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Iain Murray…
News Release
Supreme Court Declines to Rule on Section 230, Leaving Protections for Third Party Content in Place
The Supreme Court today in Google v. Gonzales and Twitter v. Taamneh declined to rule on the meaning of Section 230 of…
News Release
EARN IT Act Would Have Dangerous Unintended Consequences for Consumers
The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting today for a markup for S. 1207, the EARN IT Act of 2023. Director of CEI’s…
National Review
Politicians Are Squandering America’s Chance to Get It Right on TikTok
National-security concerns about the world’s most popular app, TikTok, might be legitimate, but addressing them is proving a master course in Washington dysfunction. Significant questions…
News Release
Senate Bill Upends Parental Right to Decide on Social Media Permissions for Children
New legislation put forward by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today would establish…
Duluth News Tribune
Pro/Con: Proposed ‘Right to Repair’ Electronics Law Would Break a System that Doesn’t Need Fixing
Some state lawmakers want to regulate the repairs of countless consumer gadgets and equipment, from smartphones and microwave ovens to farm tractors and medical…
Fox Business
AI tools such as ChatGPT are the hottest new trend for companies, but experts urge caution
Fox Business cites Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin on AI tools: According to Jessica…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing New Broadband Middle Mile Funding
Dear Member of Congress, On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the undersigned organizations, we write in opposition to any…
Bloomberg Law
California Follows Europe’s Lead on USB-C Mandate for Devices
Bloomberg Law cites Research Fellow Alex Reinauer on the USB-C mandate. The environmental arguments for the bill are mostly…
News Release
Ideologically Driven Attack on Tech Mergers and Acquisitions Threatens Innovations for Consumers and U.S. Position as Global Tech Leader
In a new Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) study, technology policy expert Jessica Melugin writes that concern about “killer acquisitions” – a market leader…
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Seriously bad bill
I admit it: I’m an Arkansas General Assembly junkie. Even though I haven’t been a state legislator for more than a decade, I still…
Blog
Large Language Models are Great Tools but Lousy Researchers
Climate skeptic Newtuber Tony Heller asked ChatGPT some questions about the climate and found it lacking. It gave the sort of answers you…
Staff & Scholars
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
