As Governors from across the country, we urge you to work collaboratively with the Biden Administration to ensure that a key tool in our joint efforts to bridge the digital divide—the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—receives additional funding. It is essential that people do not lose access to the internet that this vital program has allowed them to gain. There is broad agreement across the political spectrum that affordable high-speed internet is a necessity in today’s world, whether it’s for education, work or health care. This is why we urge you to fund this critical program that makes internet access more affordable. The ACP could run out of funding as early as April 2024. Without bipartisan collaboration between Congress and the White House to continue the ACP, nearly 20 million households enrolled nationally could lose connectivity as well as all the essential services that come with it.

I’ve spent my entire life fighting to ensure that Americans from any background, of any color or creed, have the opportunity to fight for their very own American Dream. The Biden presidency has furthered that goal and helped provide opportunities for Americans across the country to succeed. Since the invention of the internet, no administration has focused more on ensuring that everyone has access to a technology that opens doors to a brighter future and provides critical educational tools to every community. However, I am concerned that the implementation of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) may run directly counter to President Biden and Congress’s high hopes for BEAD. For example, NTIA’s “letter of credit” requirement threatens to crowd out all but the best-capitalized incumbent firms. Moreover, the “Build America, Buy America” mandate for many of the physical materials required could raise costs, especially for smaller companies. These burdensome requirements are not meeting the urgent and equitable outcomes President Biden has laid forth in his broadband agenda. In fact, they are paving the road for the intrusion of unscrupulous private equity firms seeking government subsidies to turn a quick profit. For President Biden’s Internet for All dream to become a reality, we must ensure that onerous requirements do not crowd out competition for broadband dollars.

[Rev. Al Sharpton is a civil rights leader and the founder and president of the National Action Network]

Experts disagreed on the potential for artificial intelligence to aid broadband mapping efforts at a House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing. Courtney Lang, a vice president at tech industry trade group ITI, said AI could be used to improve the quality of current broadband maps. A machine learning model could do that by using past data to identify buildings that are likely to be accurately marked as having adequate broadband, according to Lang. But Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, urged caution. “We have to be careful that we might not have enough data,” she said. In rural parts of the country, data can be sparse and low-quality. Both factors would make machine learning ill-suited to the task of flagging potential inaccuracies. She urged lawmakers to exercise restraint when using AI for “critical government functions,” like the broadband maps used to determine where federal grant money will go.

While most people don’t immediately think of artificial intelligence and machine learning when thinking about sustainable agriculture, the industry is brimming with advanced technology thanks to the need to understand vast amounts of information about everything from the microclimate to the soil pH. There’s no question that profit margins have begun to shrink for farmers all over the country thanks to inflation, climate change, higher production and labor costs, and more. As a result, farmers are turning to advanced technology and machine learning to find ways to both improve yields and become more sustainable throughout the entire crop lifecycle. While advocates are quick to talk about the positive sides of AI and sustainable farming, there are some potential drawbacks and risks around the technology. Researchers point out that hackers could poison datasets or shut down sprayers, autonomous drones, and robotic harvesters and wreak havoc on the food supply chain.