The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $9 million in broadband infrastructure grants for five projects in Tuolumne County (CA), marking a major milestone in the state’s historic $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account grant program. These investments bring broadband access to underserved and unserved communities across California, reinforcing the state’s commitment to Broadband for All. The Last Mile Federal Funding Account seeks to close the digital divide by expanding investment in broadband infrastructure, increasing affordability, and enhancing access for all with the prioritization of disadvantaged and low-income communities. Today’s grants will provide access and improve service to approximately 3,300 households and businesses in Tuolumne County. The CPUC has now awarded over $1 billion in broadband grants for projects spanning 52 counties across California. An additional $550 million is set to be allocated to the Last Mile program in the 2027–2028 state budget.

In Appalachia Kentucky where reliable internet access and digital literacy can mean the difference between opportunity and isolation, Ashley Smith is helping people navigate a new path forward. As the local Digital Navigator, Ashley has worked one-on-one with hundreds of residents, connecting them to education, jobs, and essential online resources. One of Ashley’s first clients was a college student struggling to use Blackboard, a platform essential for online coursework. Frustrated and falling behind, she turned to Ashley for help. After just a few sessions, she felt confident navigating the platform, keeping up with assignments, and taking control of her education. Stories like this highlight the critical role Ashley plays in helping residents embrace technology–whether it’s setting up an email account, searching for a job online, or helping with telehealth appointments.

OpenAI spotted and disrupted two uses of its AI tools as part of broader Chinese influence campaigns, including one designed to spread Spanish-language anti-American disinformation. AI's potential to supercharge disinformation and speed the work of nation state-backed cyberattacks is steadily moving from scary theory to complex reality. OpenAI recently published its latest threat report, identifying several examples of efforts to misuse ChatGPT and its other tools. One campaign, which OpenAI labeled "sponsored discontent," used ChatGPT accounts to generate both English-language comments attacking Chinese dissident Cai Xia and Spanish-language news articles critical of the U.S. OpenAI, which started publishing threat reports in 2024, says that it's doing so "to inform efforts to understand and prepare for how the P.R.C. or other authoritarian regimes may try to leverage AI against the U.S. and allied countries, as well as their own people."

The German election has in part focused on hot-button issues like immigration and more recently on the threat to the Atlantic alliance presented by President Trump. But the overriding concern in daily German life, according to interviews and polls, and the thing most likely to drive the choice of voters, is the nation’s anemic economy. The German economy has not grown in five years. Its once-powerful industries are suffering through what corporate and labor leaders call a crisis of competitiveness. Structural problems, including crumbling public infrastructure, from bridges and roads to schools; a lack of high-speed broadband networks; and public services that still work with paper have dragged on growth. So have regulations, tax rates and, in particular, high energy costs.