FCC's Make-or-Break Gamble on AI Infrastructure
The FCC faces critical votes that will determine whether American companies lead or lag in global AI infrastructure as regulatory bottlenecks threaten to force investments overseas.
The internet powering America today cannot handle artificial intelligence. The Federal Communications Commission's next vote may be the last chance to fix it before private companies move their AI investments overseas.
AI workloads are already overwhelming U.S. broadband networks. Lumen Technologies' CEO Kate Johnson said enterprise networks are "not big enough, fast enough, secure enough or smart enough" for current demands. The data transport company signed $13 billion in agreements with hyperscale cloud providers to connect expanding AI data center networks, positioning its fiber infrastructure as a critical link in the emerging AI infrastructure stack.
"The architectures are changing, the workloads are exploding, and users are getting more impatient," Johnson said at MWC 2026. "We're selling velocity," she added, referring to connecting hyperscale data centers faster than companies could build network infrastructure themselves.
The FCC's Build America Agenda represents a direct response to this infrastructure crisis. In January, commissioners voted unanimously to expand unlicensed use in the 6 GHz band, creating a new "geofenced variable power" device category to supercharge Wi-Fi capacity. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called it "one of the biggest opportunities we have to supercharge Wi-Fi."
In February, the agency expanded the 900 MHz band from 5 MHz to the full 10 MHz available for licensed broadband services, enabling utilities and critical infrastructure to deploy private LTE and 5G networks. FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said these private broadband networks can enable smart metering, grid modernization and enhance security while delivering essential services to all Americans.
But regulatory bottlenecks threaten to stall this progress. FCC senior counsel Arpan Sura identifies pole attachments as "the literal bottleneck that prevents thousands of communities from getting gigabit internet service." Decades-old rules governing access to utility poles continue slowing deployment across thousands of communities.
Simultaneously, a state-level regulatory onslaught compounds the challenge. Carr warned that more than 1,200 AI-related bills were introduced across state legislatures last year, creating what he calls "an unworkable compliance environment." States including Colorado, Utah, Tennessee, New York and California enacted AI laws requiring governance certifications and restricting algorithmic tools critical to network operations.
"You can't ask a startup to hire 50 lawyers just to deploy a product," Carr said at CES 2026, highlighting the compliance burden facing companies trying to build next-generation infrastructure.
The federal government has launched a countermove. The White House's March 20 National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence explicitly calls for preempting state laws that burden AI deployment, while Senator Marsha Blackburn's TRUMP AMERICA AI Act aims to codify this into law. The framework outlines seven policy areas including establishing federal preemption of "cumbersome" state AI laws, enabling innovation and ensuring American AI dominance.
House Democrats responded immediately with the GUARDRAILS Act to repeal President Trump's December 2025 AI preemption executive order. California Governor Gavin Newsom accused the administration of "running a con" by allowing Big Tech to set guardrails while preventing states from regulating.
Industry groups are united in their call for regulatory clarity rather than new compliance layers. INCOMPAS executive director Christopher Shipley identified three barrier categories created by state AI regulations: infrastructure deployment barriers, operational restrictions on algorithmic tools, and compliance fragmentation that discourages national-scale investment.
The stakes could not be higher. Without swift FCC action on preemption and permitting reform, U.S. companies will cede AI infrastructure leadership to nations with faster regulatory pathways. The FCC has already deleted more than 1,100 rules and regulations while closing 2,000 dormant dockets as part of its Build America Agenda. It plans to open 20,000 MHz for satellite broadband and auction up to 800 MHz of terrestrial spectrum by 2034.
"Today's broadband ecosystem is not ready for artificial intelligence," wrote policy analyst Nate Karren in National Review. "The sheer amount of data handled and moved by AI is already crowding America's bandwidth. Without infrastructure upgrades to keep up with the ever-accelerating AI boom, consumers' communications services will decay."
The FCC's upcoming decisions on spectrum allocation, pole attachment reform and regulatory streamlining will determine whether American companies lead or lag in the global AI race. As the agency prepares its next critical votes, the choice facing policymakers is stark: clear the path for private investment in next-generation networks, or let bureaucratic inertia leave America under-connected in the AI era.