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
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…
Search Posts
Forbes
Model Legislation On Artificial Intelligence To Regulate Government, Not Big Tech
While there’s considerable chatter, Congress seems unlikely to enact legislation regulating artificial intelligence (AI) this election year. The wait can be worth it, though.
Reason
Parents Don’t Want Schools to Confiscate Kids’ Phones
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is cited in Reason on parents position of schools confiscating student’s phones: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law restricting…
News Release
Florida social media law puts all users’ privacy at risk: CEI analysis
A new social media bill signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will ban people younger than 14 years old from using…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: NASA penalties and emergency alerts
The 2024 Federal Register topped 20,000 pages. The Justice Department sued Apple for having an iPhone monopoly. Russia held an election-themed event where Vladimir…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Paying for organs with Pete Jaworski
In this week’s episode we cover the future of AI and employment, why we shouldn’t trust Chinese economic statistics, and how…
Blog
The bait and switch of Government Owned Networks
We are all familiar with bait and switch, the deceptive practice where a customer is enticed by one offer and then forced into a…
Fox Business
Apple Vision Pro headset becomes tool in operating room
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is cited in Fox Business on Apple Vision Pro becoming an operating room tool: Jessica Melugin, director of the…
News Release
Vague concerns about TikTok insufficient to justify divestiture or ban
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on legislation that would force ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok, to sell the popular…
Forbes
How Tech Companies Are Powering Their Operations With Nuclear And Renewables
In a noteworthy move, Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently acquired Talen Energy’s 960MW data center campus in Pennsylvania, which draws power from the neighboring 2.5GW Susquehanna…
Blog
Crickets: Congressional silence on a new communications act
In what seems to be news to legislators and regulators, the communications marketplace is innovative and dynamic. The platforms used to consume increasingly varied…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Politically homeless with John Tillman
In this week’s episode we cover an environmental conference in Miami, allegedly underfunded government schools, Google’s AI diversity debacle, and…
Fox Business
Nobody is going to use Google’s woke chatbot unless they ‘fix’ its bias: Jessica Melugin
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is featured in a Fox News interview about Google’s woke chatbot: Watch the latest video at foxbusiness.com Watch the…
News Release
Supreme Court Today Hears Lawsuits Centered on Social Media Companies’ Property/Speech Rights
Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Moody v. NetChoice & CCIA and NetChoice & CCIA v. Paxton. Jessica Melugin, director…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Understanding AI with Matthew Mittelsteadt
In this week’s episode we cover Elon Musk’s controversial pay package, protecting children online, and the Biden administration’s slamming the…
Comment
CEI comments on ‘right to repair’ petition for rulemaking
Docket ID No.: FTC-2023-0077 Introduction On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully submit comments on the Petition for Rulemaking to…
The Dispatch
Let Parents, Not Politicians, Keep Kids Safe Online
Many parents today are rightly concerned about what their kids see on social media and how much time they spend online. And politicians have…
Forbes
Surge In Academic Retractions Should Put U.S. Scholars On Notice
A December article in Nature highlighted an alarming new record: more than 10,000 academic papers were retracted in 2023 alone, largely stemming from manipulation of the…
Fox 5 Washington D.C.
Contentious Senate hearing on social media draws criticism
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is cited in an interview with Fox 5 News Washington D.C. regarding Senate social media criticism: View the interview…
Blog
Crushed: The Weight of Heavy Regulation on Broadband
In the NFL, it’s a penalty for a defensive lineman sacking a quarterback to land on the quarterback with his full body weight. The…
News Release
Regulators block JetBlue/Spirit airlines merger, making it harder for small airlines to scale up and compete
After a federal judge today blocked a proposed $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue Airways Inc. and Spirit Airlines, ostensibly out of concern about…
Blog
The FCC snares broadband in web of regulation
In the children’s book Walter’s Wonderful Web, a determined spider builds webs that are too “wibbly-wobbly” to withstand the wind but perseveres until he…
Study
Don’t Depower Crypto
Introduction In President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget blueprint,1 the president proposed a new tax aimed at the electricity use caused by cryptocurrency mining.
News Release
Report: Energy Tax Targeting Crypto Industry – Bad Idea for a New Year
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report investigates whether the energy usage of certain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin merits a targeted electricity tax on the…
Forbes
Artificial Intelligence Trends To Watch In 2024
Making predictions is always hard, especially in an industry moving as quickly as artificial intelligence. But as we stand on the cusp of a…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: (De-)regulating tech and AI with Adam Thierer
In this week’s episode we cover social mobility in the 50 states, Elizabeth Warren’s revolving door with Wall Street, the latest…
Comment
FCC: Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 88 Fed. Reg. 76048
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) adopted on October 19, 2023, in…
Comment
CEI Comments on Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) adopted on October 19, 2023, in…
Blog
Khan’s FTC could harm America’s competitiveness abroad
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) threatens to put US global competitiveness at risk by pursuing stringent antitrust goals that target the largest American tech…
News Release
FTC’s Aggressive Antitrust Enforcement Threatens U.S. Advantage in AI Development
According to a new study from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) newly aggressive antitrust enforcement toward tech…
Fox News
Why creating an international body for AI is a bad idea
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently re-upped his calls for a global body, akin to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to advise…
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…
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