If you’ve been hearing the terms Agentic AI and Sovereign AI and wondering what they actually mean, you’re not alone. These two panels were among the most popular sessions at this year’s State of the Net, as policymakers and experts worked to unpack the ideas shaping the next wave of AI policy.
📺 You can now watch both panels and read full transcripts below.👇
On the 30th anniversary of the Telecom Act of 1996, State of the Net hosted an all-star panel on where communications policy stands today and what comes next. Here are a few key takeaways from our expert panel – plus the full video if you want to dive in.
“Consumers clearly want convergence… but we have a Communications Act which is anti-convergence. It’s siloed… completely misaligned with how the market is operating today.” – David Don, Comcast NBCUniversal
“There were two things that I’m nostalgic for… a serious policymaking process grounded in substantive debate, and broad national optimism about technology improving lives.” – Blair Levin, New Street Research
“Because of the focus on competition, we took for granted the basic core public interest values… things like privacy, reliability, interconnection, and 911 services… those protections beyond competition are at risk, and we have to shore them up.” – Chris Lewis, Public Knowledge
“A lot of the fights we had about telecom policy… were about the broadband layer being a bottleneck… but the software layer is where we saw a massive reduction in competition.” – Evan Swarztrauber, Foundation for American Innovation
The State of the Net agenda is here and it’s huge.
There’s a reason this is the largest Internet policy conference in Washington. Almost 90 speakers across the keynotes, panels, and lightning talks — all listed below 👇
📣 Newly added sessions —Panels on New Frontiers of Speech in the Internet Age and Sovereign AI add to the agenda.
🎟️ Tickets are still available online, with on-site registration Monday. Complimentary for government staff and press.
📺 Watch the remote livestream by registering here.
Corbin Barthold
Internet Policy Counsel
TechFreedom
Ashkhen Kazaryan
Senior Legal Fellow
The Future of Free Speech @ Vanderbilt University
Joel Thayer
Senior Fellow for AI and Emerging Technology Policy
America First Policy Institute
Luke Hogg
Director of Policy and Outreach
Foundation for American Innovation
Morgan Reed
President
ACT | The App Association
Caitlin Clarke
Senior Director of Cybersecurity Services
Venable LLC
Adrian Shahbaz
Vice President, Research and Analysis
Freedom House
Kellee Wicker
Vice President of the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Space
The Meridian International Center
Nancy Scola
Independent Journalist
We have two new keynotes and a panel to announce for State of the Net!
🇺🇸 Representative April McClain Delaney — Freshman Congresswoman and technology leader.
🏛️ Arpan Sura, Chief AI Officer, Federal Communications Commission — AI leader at the Commission.
⚡ Panel: The Future of AI Infrastructure: Affordably Securing Energy for Innovation — An all-star panel looking at a front-page issue.
The Honorable April McClain Delaney
Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Arpan Sura
Chief AI Officer
Federal Communications Commission
Dr. Tanya Das
VP of Strategy
Dataerai
Marsden Hanna
Head of Energy and Sustainability Policy
Google
Steve DelBianco
President and CEO
NetChoice
Lindsey Baxter Griffith
Founder and CEO
Clean Tommorrow
Rebecca Kern
Senior Correspondent
The Capitol Forum
Two of the most consequential tech policy questions of the moment are colliding at State of the Net: what the Supreme Court’s Paxton decision means for age verification and online speech — and how emerging AI “companions” are reshaping human connection, mental health, and the role of government in digital life.
Our expert panel at SOTN will unpack one of the most consequential online safety rulings to date: Verifying the Future: The Paxton Decision, Age Assurance, and the Next Phase of Online Safety.
Panelists will explore what the Paxton decision means for age-verification requirements, online speech, and platform obligations—and how states may approach regulation in the years ahead. The discussion will tackle the legal, technical, and policy challenges of protecting minors online while safeguarding privacy and First Amendment rights.
We’ll also feature a forward-looking conversation on AI companionship: Chatting with Machines: Mental Health, AI Companions, and the New Psychology of Connection examining how emerging AI tools are reshaping human connection and well-being.
Speakers below. You can now check out our full schedule online, and stay tuned for more speaker announcements! Register now to join us for these critical conversations shaping the future of technology policy.
Dr. Sarah Scheffler
Assistant Professor
Carnegie Melon University
Jessica Melugin
Director
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Jon Schweppe
Senior Advisor
American Principals Project
Ariel Fox Johnson
Senior Advisor
Common Sense Media
Ashley Gold
Senior Tech Policy Reporter
Axios
Amanda Lenhart
Senior Fellow
Joan Ganz Cooney Center
Shae Gardner
Policy Director
LGBT Tech
Adam Thierer
Resident Senior Fellow, Technology and Innovation
R Street Institute
Amina Fazlullah
Senior Director, Equity Policy
Common Sense Media
At State of the Net, we’ve assembled two all-star panels to take on foundational questions in technology policy that are becoming harder to ignore.
One panel asks whether the way we approach cybersecurity is technologically and politically out of date — and how artificial intelligence is widening that gap.
The conversation is anchored by CSIS’s Jim Lewis and Camille Stewart Gloster.
The other tackles an equally urgent issue: as AI systems become more autonomous, who is responsible when machines act?
That discussion is anchored by Helen Toner, Miranda Bogen, and Neil Chilson.
These conversations bring together leading voices to challenge long-standing assumptions about how we secure networks and how we assign responsibility in an era of agentic AI.
See the full list of speakers below, and join us for these timely and thought-provoking conversations.
Dr. James Lewis
Senior Advisor, Economic Security and Technology Department
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Camille Stewart Gloster
CEO and Founder
CAS Strategies, LLC
J. Michael Daniel
President and CEO
Cyber Threat Alliance
Shane Tews
Nonresident Senior Fellow
American Enterprise Institute
Rob Knake
CEO
TPO Group
Helen Toner
Interim Executive Director
Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Neil Chilson
Head of AI Policy
Abundance Institute
Miranda Bogen
Director, AI Governance Lab
Center for Democracy and Technology
Aaron Rieke
Senior Partner
Clarion AI Partners
We’re bringing together some of the most influential voices in telecom policy at this year’s State of the Net. Speakers like David Don, Blair Levin, Nicol Turner-Lee, Chris Lewis, Evan Swarztrauber, Lyndsay Moyer will lead conversations on broadband competition, BEAD, and what’s next for telecom, alongside remarks from FCC and NTIA leadership.
Our two telecom-focused panels are: “30 for 30: 30 Years of Broadband Competition, 30 Years of What’s Next,” and “Making BEAD a Success to Connect All Americans.” See speakers below
David Don
Senior Vice President of Public Policy
Comcast NBCUniversal
Blair Levin
Policy Analyst
New Street Research
Chris Lewis
President and CEO
Public Knowledge
Evan Swarztrauber
Senior Fellow
Foundation for American Innovation
Nicol Turner Lee
Center for Technology Innovation
The Brookings Institution
Paul Garnett
Founder and CEO
Vernonburg Group
Lyndsay Moyer
Vice President of State Government Affairs
Comcast
Joseph Wender
Executive Director
Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition
We’re excited to announce that California State Senator Scott Wiener and Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling will headline State of the Net on February 9. Join policymakers, industry leaders, and advocates from across the tech policy community. Register now to be a part of the conversation.
More keynote speakers and program updates will be announced soon.
Senator Scott Wiener
Senator
California State Senate
The Honorable Keith E. Sonderling
Deputy Secretary
Department of Labor
We look forward to hearing Senator Wiener’s perspective on state-level AI policy, as well as Deputy Secretary Sonderling’s insights on AI’s impact on the workforce.
We’re excited to announce the final round of Lightning Talk presenters for State of the Net 2026!
These short, high-impact talks were selected from more than 100 submissions and reflect the depth, diversity, and urgency of today’s technology policy conversations. From AI at work to data governance and the future of the web, this final group of speakers brings fresh ideas and bold perspectives to the stage.
Crawling the Web We Want: Policy Choices Shaping the Agentic Web
Dr. Courtney Radsch
Director, Center for Journalism & Liberty
Open Markets Institute
A Proactive Response to AI-Driven Job Displacement
Revana Sharfuddin
Research Fellow
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Balancing Privacy and Power: How Data Governance Will Shape AI’s Future
Lauren Culbertson Grieco
Co-Managing Partner
The Founders Policy Group
From Research Labs to Policy Agendas: What Computer Scientists Are Thinking About Now that Policymakers Will Be Discussing Soon
Tom Romanoff
Director of Global Policy
Association for Computing Machinery
More Lightning Talks at SOTN ’26 — and this round tackles some of the most urgent questions in tech policy right now.
Are Public Utility Commissions becoming the quiet regulators of AI infrastructure? How should AI “memory” be governed? Why should safety tools be open-sourced? What new cybersecurity risks come from AI agents that act on our behalf? And before any of that — what definition of “AI” should policymakers even be using?
We’re thrilled to announce our second round of Lightning Talk speakers, selected from over 100 proposals. Take a look at who’s presenting below.
State of the Net is on Monday, February 9th. Register now!
Open Sourcing Safety: Why The Internet Needs Shared Tools, Not Silos
Naren Koneru
Vice President of Engineering, Trust & Safety
Roblox
AI Memory as a Governance Surface: Prioritizing User Privacy and Control
Ruchika Joshi
AI Governance Fellow
Center for Democracy and Technology
Cybersecurity for AI that Acts: Agents and vulnerability management
Heather West
Fellow
Center for Cybersecurity Policy and Law
The Hidden Regulators: Public Utility Commissions and AI Governance
Scott Babwah Brennen
Director
NYU Center on Technology Policy
Defining Technologies: Which Definition of AI Should Policymakers Use?
Nick Garcia
Editor
Defining Technologies of Our Time
Senior Policy Council
Public Knowledge