To Win the AI Race, Congress Must Tackle Wireless Permitting

By Patrick Halley, President and CEO, WIA

President Trump is hyper-focused on winning the AI race, and rightly so. The champion will be a country that ushers in an era of unmatched productivity and economic growth and leads global advances in national security. For the Trump Administration, winning on AI is “a national security imperative.”

And it’s a bipartisan goal. “No technology offers more promise to our modern world than artificial intelligence,” according to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. They are both right.

So how do we win a global AI tech race?  We start by looking right in our own back yard and making sure each American community has rock solid connectivity.

Connectivity is the lifeblood of our data-driven world – data that makes AI possible. As Congress looks to advance policies to address the energy and permitting needs of data centers, we need an equal focus on the permitting issues to unleash the full potential of wireless connectivity – and therefore the full potential of our AI future.

Wireless Infrastructure is AI infrastructure

When you hear “AI infrastructure” you probably think hyperscale cloud providers with massive data centers and cutting-edge chip manufacturers. What is often overlooked in public discourse around AI is the major connectivity needs of integrating AI into business operations, communities and everyday life.

There really isn’t one aspect of American life that AI isn’t predicted to touch. For the consumer, the integration of AI into end user devices will mean improved personalized healthcare with AI-powered apps that can help doctors and nurses monitor chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease remotely through wireless sensors. For communities, it might be wireless connectivity that supports AI systems for detecting and fixing issues in power grids and water systems before outages occur.

The need for reliable, high-speed wireless connectivity to handle the demand for real-time applications then becomes critical. In fact, wireless carriers expect data consumption to increase by 80 percent over the next five years because of real-time AI applications and the proliferation of the Artificial Internet of Things.

Compute power at the network edge also becomes vital to sustaining real-time AI applications. This will inevitably lead to the expansion of edge data centers, likely located on the same land as cell towers, to bring increased compute capabilities closer to end users.  As a former National Security Council Director for Emerging Technologies recently put it, “…information gathered on edge devices will be the battleground on which the AI race is won or lost.”

AI is a National Security Imperative

China certainly understands the need for wireless infrastructure. As our main global competitor in the AI race, China has 2 million cell towers deployed compared to nearly 155,000 towers in the U.S. Among more than 20 countries surveyed by GSMA, China had one of the highest scores for digital transformation, including the integration of AI. According to GSMA, “5G momentum in China is being driven by a combination of several factors, including operators’ continued investment in large-scale infrastructure rollout and strong demand for faster and more reliable internet from a tech-savvy population.”

To remain competitive, Congress needs to adopt a national framework for wireless infrastructure that ensures predictable, proportionate, and transparent permitting processes. For its part, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is already thinking ahead. Under the leadership of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the Commission is focused on supporting “Build America” policies that ensure critical connectivity infrastructure can be deployed as quickly as possible.

Chairman Carr has it right – to ensure wireless spectrum that the agency will be making available to wireless carriers in the coming years can be quickly used to support America’s AI future, the U.S. needs to focus on smart build policies now. The FCC can help, but Congress must act.

Just as Congress is seeking to streamline energy and data center permitting for AI, legislation is needed to create a national permitting framework for wireless infrastructure buildout. Where wireless towers exist, we need to maximize the use of that infrastructure. Where new infrastructure is necessary, we need reasonable environmental review and zoning processes. Congress is in the best position to codify a framework to ensure communities across America are not left behind as the AI economy takes off.

As President Trump’s AI Action Plan astutely recognizes, the U.S. “needs to innovate faster and more comprehensively than our competitors in the development and distribution of new AI technology across every field, and dismantle unnecessary regulatory barriers that hinder the private sector in doing so.”  I agree. Let’s get to work and win the AI race.