jessica rosenworcel

The FCC has raised the speeds required to describe internet service as “broadband” for the first time since 2015. The agency’s annual high-speed internet assessment concluded that 100 Mbps downloads and 20 Mbps uploads will be the new standard. The news will likely irk ISPs who would love to keep pointing to 25 Mbps / 3 Mbps speeds (the previous standards) and convincing people they’re getting high-speed broadband.The FCC’s report broke down several areas where the country’s online infrastructure falls short. The agency…

Robocalls made with AI-powered voice-cloning technology have been banned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a bid to reduce fraud and election-related misinformation. The new ruling gives state attorneys general the relevant powers to take action against those behind calls using AI voice-cloning technology. In a release shared on Thursday, the FCC said the rate of such calls has risen in recent years, adding that they have the potential to “confuse consumers with misinformation by imitating the voices…

Welcome to AI This Week, Gizmodo’s weekly deep dive on what’s been happening in artificial intelligence.What to Watch For: Taylor Swift's "Midnights" What to Watch For: Taylor Swift's "Midnights" vinyl salesConcerns about AI porn—or, more commonly “deepfake porn”—are not new. For years, countless women and girls have been subjected to a flood of non-consensual pornographic imagery that is easy to distribute online but quite difficult to get taken down. Most notably, celebrity deepfake porn has been an ongoing source of…

A federal agency is pushing to outlaw AI-generated robocalls after criminals tried to disrupt New Hampshire’s Democratic primary with a deepfake phone call from President Biden. The phone call from our sitting President told voters to stay home last weekend in an “unlawful” attempt at voter suppression, according to the state’s Attorney General.Ed Begley Jr. Talks Climate Change and Sustainability“AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed it is implementing rules against scam texting, becoming the first rule of its kind to combat an influx of targeted spam texts in recent years. Robotic text messages are “highly likely to be illegal,” the FCC said in a press release and confirmed that under the new rules, mobile service providers will be required to block robotext messages. Robotexts can be identified if they come from invalid, unallocated, or unused numbers and includes numbers that are identified by…

U.S. regulators say scam texts have gotten out of control, and it is time for cellphone companies to do more to stop them.  Under new rules adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission, mobile-service providers have to block robotext messages the agency says are highly likely to be illegal. That includes texts from numbers that shouldn’t be sending messages, such as unused and invalid numbers, as well as those that government agencies identify as not for texting.…

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel first proposed the space bureau in November 2022.Photo: Tom Williams (AP)The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is getting ready to launch its own Space Bureau, expanding on its role in regulating a rapidly evolving industry in Earth orbit.On Monday, the FCC adopted a plan to reorganize the agency, transforming its International Bureau to a Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs. The latest move is an effort to become more prepared for dealing with the growing satellite…

The days of finding out about a data breach impacting your personal data months after the fact may soon become a thing of the past—at least when it comes to hacks affecting telecomcarriers. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new rule, requiring phone and internet providers to notify customers of breaches much more quickly. “This new proceeding will take a much-needed, fresh look at our data breach reporting rules to better protect consumers, increase security, and reduce the impact of future breaches,”…

Telecom companies have managed to make prisoners and their families pay exorbitant rates to talk on the phone or through electronic video calls. A new law may change everything once its finally put in place.Photo: John Moore (Getty Images)In the United States’ massive, inhumane, and money-grubbing prison industry, telecom companies have chargedexorbitant prices to let inmates connect with their friends and family on the outside. A new bipartisan bill that managed to squeak its way through congress may finally provide…

Photo: Anna Moneymaker (Getty Images)U.S. telecom providers, under a new FCC order, will have to take “all necessary steps” to block calls from a shady communication company engaged in a mass robocall scam praying on people seeking student loan forgiveness.The scammer company, called Urth Access, LLC, would reportedly spam users with calls urging them to forfeit their personal information or pay a fee in order to receive up to around $10,000 in student loan debt relief. Many of the scams reportedly referred to the Biden…