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
Blog
Protestations aside, Washington wants to regulate AI. It also wants to run it
Washington’s latest AI summit between Trump and tech executives was billed largely as a meeting about safety. Ultimately, it was a meeting about something…
Blog
Stop rogue government AI
Performative Washington, responsible for funding AI weaponry and R&D for years, purports to have suddenly discovered the dangers of artificial intelligence. Recent incidents…
Blog
Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC: No time for equal time
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “equal time” rule aims to foster competing voices and ensure opportunities for debate. It was created in an era…
Search Posts
Blog
Protestations aside, Washington wants to regulate AI. It also wants to run it
Washington’s latest AI summit between Trump and tech executives was billed largely as a meeting about safety. Ultimately, it was a meeting about something…
Comment
CEI Comments on FTC’s Proposed Policy Statement Regarding Personalized Pricing
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Proposed Enforcement Policy Statement Regarding Personalized Pricing.
Comment
CEI Comments on Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments
COMMENTS OF THE COMPETITIVE ENTERPRIVE INSTITUTE The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Commission’s Notice…
Blog
Stop rogue government AI
Performative Washington, responsible for funding AI weaponry and R&D for years, purports to have suddenly discovered the dangers of artificial intelligence. Recent incidents…
Blog
Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC: No time for equal time
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “equal time” rule aims to foster competing voices and ensure opportunities for debate. It was created in an era…
Blog
9/11 and presidential power
America is a complicated country, founded on a simple idea: no kings. Even so, nearly every president since at least John Adams has grown…
Blog
Misalignment by design: How AI could become the operating system of the administrative state (Part 2)
Read Part 1 here. The AI deregulatory alternative: Liberalize networks and what flows through them This is where the…
Blog
Misalignment by design: How AI could become the operating system of the administrative state (Part 1)
The AI debate asks how the federal government should regulate commercial artificial intelligence and “big tech,” with little recognition or appreciation that the government…
Blog
Out, damned spot! Precautionary regulation could threaten the future of wearable AI
California may become the first state to take major statutory action to regulate wearable recording devices like smart glasses. Senate Bill 1130 has…
The Hill
The Movement: Meta settlement gets praise, pushback from the right
CEI’s Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin gave comments to The Hill on Meta’s settlement decision to pay out up…
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…
Letters
CEI joins coalition against FCC interference in affiliation agreements
Dear Chairman Carr: We, the undersigned organizations, write in continued support of your work to reduce government regulation and interference in America’s thriving…
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…
Washington Examiner
Why the Senate needs to abandon the Kids Online Safety Act
CEI’s Jessica Melugin was cited in the Washington Examiner in response to the Kids Online Safety Act. Blackburn is not alone in…
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…
Blog
The epistemological mismatch of KOSA’s constructive knowledge standard
The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a markup on Wednesday for several online child safety bills, including the Kids Online Safety Act (…
Blog
The self-defeating trade policy affecting memory chips
Affordability is a major concern for many Americans. Whether you’re checking out at the grocery store, filling up at the gas station, or paying…
National Review
Won’t Anyone Think of the Parents?
In an effort to address a perceived youth mental health crisis, online kids’ safety regulation is on the march in Congress and around the globe.
Daily Wire
Another Major Country Bans Children From Social Media
CEI’s Jessica Melugin was cited by the Daily Wire after Australia banned children under 16 from creating accounts for many social media platforms.
Blog
Hopping the fence: The failures of social media bans
There is growing global momentum toward mandatory age verification and stricter internet safety regulations. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 56…
Blog
Congress should fight piracy, not make ISPs internet police
Online piracy is a serious problem for content creators and rightsholders. Studies estimate that unauthorized streaming and downloads cost the US economy billions…
News Release
Report dispels AI jobs doomsday fears
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report examines what the AI revolution will mean for the future of labor by examining technology disruptions of the past. “Technology advances like artificial…
Study
Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs Doomsday
As technology advances it has periodically bred the fear that progress will destroy jobs and livelihoods. History teaches that these fears are usually misplaced.
News Release
House-passed KIDS Act harms access to protected speech and substitutes parents’ judgment in favor of regulators’
The House of Representatives passed the KIDS Act today, a package that includes incentives for age verification and onerous directives for product design.
Blog
DMA has its head in the Clouds
This week, the European Commission (EC) announced that Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure Cloud services are being preliminarily designated as “gatekeepers” under the Digital…
Blog
The oasis in America’s affordability desert: Broadband gets faster while prices fall
Americans are understandably worried about affordability. Housing, health care, utilities, and groceries have all become more expensive in recent years, stretching household budgets…
Washington Examiner
Sanders AI plan would create panel with vast influence over economy
Wayne Crews cited in the Washington Examiner regarding Bernie Sanders AI plan. Still, others point out that such a commission would be…
Blog
Time to end the SEC’s surveillance of everybody’s finances
Today is the deadline for filing regulatory comments on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) program. The CAT is a…
Comment
CEI Comments on the Consolidated Audit Trail
Securities and Exchange Commission Notice of Proposed Rulemaking“Concept Release on Consolidated Audit Trail and Other Audit Trails and Data Sources” CFR Parts 240 and…
Comment
CEI Comments on Petition for Declaratory Ruling of KTRK Television, Inc. and American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Media Bureau’s Public Notice in the above-captioned proceeding.[1] CEI…
Letters
CEI Joins Taxpayers Protection Alliance Coalition’s Letter Opposing ASAA and KOSA Online Regulations
Dear Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and Members of the Committee, We, the undersigned coalition of public-policy groups, think tanks, and nonprofits, write…
News Release
AICOA’s heavy-handed approach would harm consumers, stifle innovation, and degrade security and privacy
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) re-introduced a modified version of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), which introduces new…
Blog
BEAD and the cost of conditions
Last month the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Nebraska had connected one of the first households in the country to…
Blog
The EU ran the experiment, America should not repeat it
“I worry a lot about the broad scope and the vague language that [AICOA] contains that I believe would lead to an untold…
Washington Examiner
The government has no business in AI
People worry about the ways artificial intelligence will change jobs, education, creativity, and daily lives, according to polling. But…
Washington Examiner
Business
Soaring stock market defies broader US economic doldrums CEI senior economist Ryan Young gave comment to the Washington Examiner regarding consumer bias in stock…
Reason
Do You Trust the Government To Control AI?
Reason cited CEI’s Jessica Melugin around the debate to trust government with running or controlling artificial intelligence. But—this is important—it explicitly states…
News Release
CEI Report: AI Industrial Policy Schemes Create “Misalignment by Design” and a New AI Welfare State
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute contends the greatest risk associated with artificial intelligence is not technological misalignment but what author…
Study
Welcome to the Machine
The transition toward superintelligence will come with serious risks—from economic disruption, to misuse in areas like cybersecurity and biology, to the loss of alignment…
News Release
Trump EO on AI recognizes innovation imperative but leaves room for overreach
The Trump White House today put forward an executive order on “Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security.” CEI regulatory…
Blog
The inconsistent burdens of the state regulatory patchworks affecting ISPs
As the debate over federal- versus state-driven artificial intelligence (AI) regulation intensifies, many observers emphasize the risks of an emerging state AI patchwork…
Blog
The compound interest of innovation: Wi-Fi and the power of unlicensed spectrum
Investors understand the power of compound interest. Over time, small gains accumulate into exponential growth. Innovation often works the same way. One breakthrough…
Blog
The Little Red Hen goes digital: No data centers, no internet
The politics of data centers increasingly resemble the fable of The Little Red Hen. Everyone wants the bread — AI, cloud computing, streaming,…
Blog
From Ma Bell to FaceTime: Why the next Telecom Act must embrace innovation over regulation
This year is the 30th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Telecom Act), a landmark law that Congress is considering updating. Lawmakers…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR’s Coalition Letter in Support of Ending European Attacks on U.S. Tech and Telecommunications Companies
Dear Mr. President:Europe’s campaign for “digital sovereignty” is nothing more than a euphemismfor targeting American businesses. We write to commend your Administration’sstrong and principled…
Blog
The GUARD Act dis-GUARDs the First Amendment and competition
When looking at Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) GUARD Act (S. 3062 – Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue Act), the puns write…
Blog
An easy win possible on affordability for California regulators
Whether “affordability” is a serious policy prescription or just a campaign buzzword remains to be seen, but California’s Public Utilities Commission has a golden…
Comment
CEI Comments RE: Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans; Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; request for public comments
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on the…
Blog
Congress needs to curtail the FCC’s public interest authority
How do we know when a broadcaster is acting in the “public interest”? Under current law, the answer is simple: when the Federal Communications…
Blog
Review of Michael Sheridan’s The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China
In my continuing quest to learn more about the US’s number one strategic rival, I recently finished reading (i.e., listening to it on Audible)…
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