Agenda - State of the Net

Breakout Panels Session 1

30 for 30: 30 Years of Broadband Competition, 30 Years of What’s Next

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Panel Description
30 years ago Congress envisioned that telecom providers would compete with one another by providing multiple media offerings over their pipes. Today, that competitive vision has become a reality with broadband Internet subsuming multimedia and data communications. The Telecom Act authors probably got lucky that the Internet arrived on the scene as the ink started to dry on the parchment. Today, Americans access media and data via fiber, cable, fixed wireless and traditional mobile broadband services, and new LEO satellite Internet services are starting to fill in the gaps. But the 30 year old Telecom Act is a poor framework for this unimaginably dynamic Internet-enabled broadband marketplace. It was built on structural assumptions that immediately became obsolete. Now that the future is here, how should Congress build a communications policy framework that enables the next 30 years of technological change?

Speakers:

Kelcee Griffis, Bloomberg News

Evan Swarztrauber, Foundation for American Innovation

David Don, Comcast

Blair Levin, New Street Research

Christopher Lewis, Public Knowledge

Chatting with Machines: Mental Health, AI Companions, and the New Psychology of Connection

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Panel Description
AI chatbots and “companions” are redefining how people—especially young users—seek support, information, and connection. As these tools become integrated into daily life, they raise urgent policy questions: How should governments approach AI systems that influence users’ emotions and mental health? What safeguards are needed to protect minors and sensitive communities, including LGBTQ youth? This panel will explore the emerging regulatory landscape for AI companions, mental health apps, and conversational agents, examining issues of transparency, accountability, consent, and the appropriate role of federal and state policymakers in governing this new form of digital intimacy.

Speakers:

Amrith Ramkumar, The Wall Street Journal

Amina Fazlullah, Common Sense Media

Amanda Lenhart, Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Adam Thierer, R Street Institute

Shae Gardner, LGBT Tech

Hitting Refresh on Cybersecurity to Address Emerging Technologies

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Panel Description
Political and technological changes are shifting the cybersecurity policy landscape at an unprecedented pace.
Core concepts such as “critical infrastructure protection,” deterrence, and perimeter defense were developed for an earlier version of the Internet. While these concepts are still applicable, the rapid integration of artificial intelligence into digital systems calls for fresh and creative approaches. Today, cloud computing, mobile connectivity, ubiquitous networks, and increasingly autonomous systems have blurred the lines between crime, espionage, and state conflict — challenges that share the same terrain but require very different responses. At the same time, AI is transforming how software is written, how vulnerabilities are discovered, and how attacks are conducted.

As geopolitical competition intensifies and digital systems become more pervasive and self-operating, this discussion asks whether current cybersecurity frameworks still align with the environment they are intended to secure.

The panel will challenge long-standing assumptions in cybersecurity policy and explore what a modern approach must prioritize to ensure the stable and secure delivery of services across ubiquitous, AI-enabled networks, platforms, and applications.

Speakers:

Shane Tews, Logan Circle Strategies

Camille Stewart Gloster, CAS Strategies, LLC

James Lewis, Center for European Policy Analysis

Michael Daniel, Cyber Threat Alliance

Rob Knake, TPO Group

Lightning Talk Session 1

Individual Lightning Talks

The Missing Network Layer: Why AI Needs Its Own ARPANET Moment

Andrew Trask | Video

Time to Prove We’re Human

Nick Pickles | Video

The State of the Open Web

Stan Adams & Lila Bailey | Video

Open Sourcing Safety: Why The Internet Needs Shared Tools, Not Silos

Naren Koneru | Video

Crawling the Web We Want: Policy Choices Shaping the Agentic Web

Courtney Radsch | Video

Breakout Panels Session 2

AI Liability: Who’s Responsible When Machines Act?

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Panel Description
As AI systems move beyond generating text to taking action—executing code, making transactions, controlling infrastructure—traditional liability frameworks are straining. If an AI agent causes harm, who’s accountable: the developer, the deployer, the user, or the AI itself? This panel examines emerging approaches to AI liability across domains: from autonomous vehicles and medical diagnostics to agentic systems that operate with varying degrees of independence. Should we extend existing product liability law, create new AI-specific frameworks, or adapt intermediary protections like Section 230? As infrastructure demands grow and energy costs mount, how do liability rules shape who builds AI and how it’s deployed?

Speakers:

Miranda Bogen, Center for Democracy and Technology

Tod Cohen, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips

Helen Toner, Center for Security and Emerging Technology

Neil Chilson, Abundance Institute

Aaron Rieke, Clarion AI Partners

Making BEAD a Success To Connect All Americans

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Panel Description
With $42 billion from the BEAD program poised to extend broadband infrastructure to nearly every remaining unserved location, the deployment phase is finally underway. But building the networks is only half the job. For BEAD to truly succeed, communities must adopt and use the connectivity being delivered.

This panel will explore the demand-side factors that determine whether BEAD achieves its goals: What will it take to drive meaningful adoption? How do we ensure affordability as part of the broader adoption challenge? And what are the final steps needed to close the digital divide once the networks are built?

Speakers:

Chris Teale, Route Fifty

Nicol Turner Lee, The Brookings Institution

Lyndsay Moyer, Comcast

Paul Garnett, Vernonburg Group

Joseph Wender, SHLB Coalition

The Future of AI Infrastructure: Affordably Securing Energy for Innovation

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Panel Description
As artificial intelligence evolves and expands, it is fundamentally reshaping how America builds its technology networks and power infrastructure. This panel of leaders from telecom, chips, energy, and infrastructure will explore the dual challenge of connectivity and sustainability. As AI transforms how we use the Internet, ISPs, carriers, and policymakers must prepare for AI-driven demand, potentially requiring new standards to connect billions of intelligent devices efficiently and securely.

At the same time, AI’s surging energy consumption is becoming a critical policy concern, requiring a balance between fostering AI-driven innovation and managing rising demands for computing power. How can policymakers ensure AI development aligns with sustainability goals while maintaining America’s competitive edge? What breakthroughs in energy efficiency and network design are on the horizon? Join us for an in-depth discussion on building the physical foundation for AI’s future—from devices to data centers.

Speakers:

Rebecca Kern, The Capitol Forum

Lindsey Baxter Griffith, Clean Tomorrow

Steve DelBianco, NetChoice

Tanya Das, Dataerai

Marsden Hanna, Google

Lightning Talk Session 2

Breakout Panels Session 3

Sovereign AI and the New Internet Order: Governing Intelligence Across Borders

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Panel Description
As nations race to build “sovereign AI” systems, global Internet governance is entering uncharted territory. Once centered on shared protocols and open standards, the network now faces fragmentation driven by data localization, compute sovereignty, and national AI infrastructure strategies. From the U.S. and EU to China and the Global South, policymakers are redefining digital sovereignty as control over data, algorithms, and cloud capacity. This panel will explore the geopolitical stakes of sovereign AI — whether it marks the end of the global Internet or the beginning of a new era of decentralized, policy-driven intelligence.

Speakers:

Nancy Scola, Independent Jorunalist

Kellee Wicker, Meridian International Center

Caitlin Clarke, Venable LLP

Morgan Reed, ACT | The App Association

Adrian Shahbaz, Freedom House

The New Frontiers of Speech

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Panel Description
Policymakers, platforms, and media organizations face an escalating struggle over who controls expression. Once centered on social-media moderation, the free-speech debate now extends to television, AI-generated content, and “fairness” mandates across the information ecosystem. Is this the start of a more regulated Internet? Or a recalibration of constitutional boundaries? This panel brings together leading voices to examine the evolving legal, technological, and cultural frontiers of expression in the Trump era and beyond.

Speakers:

Luke Hogg, Foundation for American Innovation

Ashkhen Kazaryan, Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University

Corbin Barthold, TechFreedom

Joel Thayer, Digital Progress Institute

Verifying the Future: The Paxton Decision, Age Assurance, and the Next Phase of Online Safety

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Panel Description
The Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton narrowly upheld age verification requirements—but only for content already unlawful for minors, such as pornography. The decision did not extend to speech like social media, news, or messaging platforms – which are lawful for minors and adults alike. But this critical distinction is already being blurred by states passing laws restricting minors’ access to broader parts of the Internet, and Congress is considering comprehensive frameworks like KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act) that go far beyond age verification.

This panel examines where child safety policy goes from here. Does Paxton open the door to design mandates, content filtering, and platform liability for legal-but-harmful content? How should we evaluate state app store age verification laws that impose gatekeeping requirements on digital distribution? How do we balance protecting children with preserving anonymous access, free expression, and privacy? And can we build effective safety measures—whether age assurance, algorithmic accountability, or parental tools—without creating surveillance infrastructure that threatens the open Internet?

Speakers:

Ashley Gold, Axios

Ariel Fox Johnson, Common Sense Media

Sarah Scheffler, Carnegie Mellon University

Jessica Melugin, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Jon Schweppe, American Principles Project

Keynote Sessions

Fireside Chat with Arielle Roth and Daniel Lyons

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Panel Description