Current Temp:
Super Hot
A Presidential Executive Order has tasked the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with developing a national AI Action Plan to secure U.S. leadership in AI. As a part of this effort, OSTP is seeking public input to shape the key policies that will drive this initiative forward. The question is: What strategic actions are essential to ensuring America’s dominance in AI to advance human progress, economic competitiveness, and national security?
One critical factor often overlooked? AI isn’t just a race for better models – it’s a race for bandwidth, speed, and connectivity. To lead in AI, the U.S. must invest not just in innovation, but in the fiber backbone that makes it possible.
The problem? Today’s networks weren’t built for AI at this scale. Legacy infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the sheer amount of data AI requires. If the infrastructure can’t keep up, businesses face downtime, rising costs, and missed opportunities
More servers and more power aren’t enough to support the AI data center boom. To sustain AI’s rapid growth, and ensure enterprises can fully leverage it, we need to build more modern long-haul networks – faster, denser, and more resilient than ever before. These networks are the key to seamlessly transporting massive AI workloads between hyperscale data centers. As data centers expand and rack densities soar, networks must scale with them.
AI Number of the Week:
$1.1T
by 2029
Data centers are projecting to more than double spend, largely driven by AI investments.
[Source: NetworkWorld]
Enterprises are pouring money into AI-optimized servers, and hyperscalers are investing even more in cutting-edge infrastructure to power the next wave of AI advancements. But here’s the real challenge: all that compute is useless without the connectivity to match.
The race isn’t just about faster servers. It’s about building the network backbone that will keep AI-driven businesses ahead. The solution? Doubling down on long-haul fiber networks at scale.
This dramatic shift highlights the critical role of scalable, high-performance networks in powering the next generation of AI innovation. But it also exposes a potential bandwidth gap in the U.S., where current infrastructure risks falling short.
The solution? Doubling down on building long-haul fiber networks at scale. It’s the only way to ensure data centers have the connectivity needed to deliver the speed, efficiency, and reliability that organizations demand.
What You Should Read:
Infrastructure
Data center spending to top $1 trillion by 2029 as AI transforms infrastructureNetwork World
Government
Request for Information on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action PlanFederal Register
Hot Take:
Jevons Paradox states that “increasing efficiency in resource use, leads to a corresponding increase in the consumption of that resource.”
The more efficient and subsequently accessible AI becomes, demand will grow as more industries adopt it, driving an exponential surge in data consumption. DeepSeek’s low-cost, energy-efficient AI model won’t just enable AI growth – it will supercharge its adoption.
But the real urgency? The time to scale is now. As AI-driven demand is only accelerating, organizations must enable their business to be able to support the inevitable bandwidth demands. Fiber based communications infrastructure providers will play a key role in supporting this increased demand with high capacity, low latency connectivity needed by providers and consumers alike.
Aaron Werley, SVP Engineering, Zayo
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