The Biden administration unveiled its national spectrum strategy on Monday, laying out how the federal government can better coordinate to free up valuable radio frequencies for the country’s connectivity needs.

Access to the invisible airwaves that allow smartphones and a plethora of other connected devices to communicate with each other is an increasingly hot-button topic as government users—especially national security agencies—and the private sector jockey for use of the same bands.

The White House’s “blueprint” aims to ease some of the competition by establishing a pipeline that makes new spectrum bands available for commercial use, guiding a long-term planning effort to keep up with evolving spectrum needs, and encouraging innovative methods for sharing valuable bands among multiple users.

“Spectrum is a limited resource that enables the everyday and the extraordinary—from checking the weather on our phone to traveling into space. As demand for this resource increases, the US will continue to lead the world in spectrum innovation, and President Biden’s bold vision for spectrum policy will provide the foundation for that leadership,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

The strategy hits on an (increasingly rare) point of bipartisan agreement. House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican, and Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, praised the roadmap in a joint statement. They noted that a clear spectrum leadership plan impacts “everything from our military’s radar capabilities to the mobile broadband and GPS systems Americans rely on every day.”

One uniting force? Lawmakers have seen what happens when spectrum leadership channels break down.

Keep reading here.—KG

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One year since ChatGPT’s viral debut spawned a frenzy of research binges in the business world, many companies are not yet in good shape to actually implement grand AI ambitions.

A recent Cisco survey of more than 8,000 business leaders responsible for deploying AI in their organizations found that just 14% of companies are fully on track to put AI strategies into practice. The report, subtitled “Intentions Outpacing Abilities,” sized up AI operations across different factors like infrastructure, data, and talent to gauge progress toward goals.

The backdrop for the report is an ongoing craze around all things generative AI that has pushed businesses to invest in the possibility of automating everything from writing code to customer service. Around 97% of those surveyed said urgency to implement AI has accelerated in the last six months, with much of the pressure coming from the C-suite and boards of directors. And 84% see AI having a significant impact on business operations.

Data dearth: Yet while AI might have evolved a lot in the last year, much of the hesitance about using it might be familiar for those who’ve undertaken business digitization efforts. One of the most fraught areas is data; companies say their necessary information tends to be siloed across the organization, which makes amassing the kind of scale needed for AI projects more difficult.

There’s also the matter of data privacy and security, which is something consumers have signaled they’re worried about with AI. More than a fifth of companies have “untested, basic protocols, or no protocols” for responding to a data breach or other security incident. The good news is that 76% of companies have a high or moderate understanding of and adherence to global privacy standards.

Keep reading here.—PK

Intel is poised to land billions in funding to produce US government and military microchips, following signs the tech giant’s pivot to semiconductor manufacturing is beginning to bear fruit.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the program, funded by the White House’s $53 billion CHIPS Act, would likely involve Intel’s Arizona manufacturing complex. Sources who spoke with the paper said the new facilities could run in the neighborhood of $3 billion–$4 billion, although negotiations with various government agencies remain ongoing.

As the Journal noted, Senators Jack Reed, Roger Wicker, and Maria Cantwell authored a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo last month questioning whether a contract for exclusive defense-oriented manufacturing facilities is preferable to funding the broader supply chain.

Granting exclusive contracts “would limit funding for other projects that would create a diversified domestic supplier base of semiconductors critical to the defense industrial base,” the senators wrote, reported the Journal. The economics of such a facility may also be uncertain, as defense constitutes just 2% of the chip market, the paper reported.

Intel stock has weathered years of decay due to factors including missed product launches and a collapse in the PC market, which is only now showing signs of cautious optimism. CEO Pat Gelsinger has staked his tenure on the foundry strategy of competing with firms like TSMC to manufacture semiconductors for other companies. While the strategy has run into obstacles, the company showed positive signs in May, partially due to surging interest in the kind of AI chips it makes.

Keep reading on IT Brew.—TM

Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

Trust issues: As consumers in the internet age, is there anything more grueling than sifting through online reviews? Type “microwave” into the Amazon search bar, and you’re hit with a wall of microwaves with four-ish stars in varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Can the $60 microwave with four stars perform as well as the $400 microwave with the same star rating? Surely not; we all know that many “user-generated” online reviews are fake news.

The New York Times recently reported that “a wave of regulation and moves by tech companies are coalescing in a more concerted effort to turn the tide” away from fake reviews and toward a more reliable online consumer landscape. All well and good, though the paper of record noted that “the fake review problem may be so enormous that it is insurmountable.”

It’s no wonder subscription-based review sites, like Consumer Reports and NYT-owned Wirecutter, continue to flourish alongside all those bogus reviews. We might be biased here, but if you’re planning to pony up for an expensive kitchen appliance, it’s worth shelling out to read reviews from definitely real journalists rather than relying on the freebies from bots and digital marketers.