A group of moderate Democrats called on fellow House members to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), originally enacted as a pandemic response, for another year amid broader efforts to get and keep low-income Americans online.

The New Democrat Coalition told House leaders, including new Speaker Mike Johnson, that any emergency supplemental funding package it passes should include $6 billion to continue the $30 monthly subsidies for households already receiving benefits like WIC, SNAP, and Medicaid.

“At the current rate of enrollment, the ACP’s funding will be exhausted as imminently as early next year,” they wrote in a Monday letter. “Failure to renew funding for the ACP would once again make low-cost broadband internet service unaffordable for millions of families, resulting in a significant loss of internet connectivity nationwide.”

The White House appealed to Congress last week, asking lawmakers to rejuvenate the program, currently serving more than 21 million households, until next December, along with a slate of other government-funding requests. Doing so will not only keep disadvantaged Americans online, but also further a key tenet of the Biden administration’s plan to connect the entire country, the White House said.

Keep reading here.—KG

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Corporations are spending more on sustainability operations amid a growing recognition that severe weather brought on by the climate crisis may threaten bottom lines.

New data from Honeywell and tech research and advisory firm The Futurum Group found that around nine in 10 businesses said they are planning to hike their energy-efficiency budgets, while about 43% said weather-related disasters, extreme heat, and rising sea levels spurred a boost to near-term sustainability investments in 2023.

Honeywell began taking these quarterly temperature checks last year to gauge market demand as the 117-year-old industrial giant looks to grow its energy transition business and other green tech operations.

We spoke with Honeywell Chief Sustainability Officer Gavin Towler about how weather events have impacted business outlooks, the move toward tech-focused approaches to sustainability, and how companies are thinking about environmental goals.

Keep reading here.—PK

World leaders from every corner of the globe agree: AI can cause “catastrophic harm” if not managed correctly.

Representatives of 28 countries signed on to a document called the Bletchley Declaration this week, laying out how they’ll collectively navigate the risks and opportunities of the next generation of AI.

The signing took place as international politicians and technologists convened to discuss AI safety at Bletchley Park, the English country estate that famously served as home base for British World War II codebreakers like computer pioneer Alan Turing.

“Many risks arising from AI are inherently international in nature, and so are best addressed through international cooperation,” the declaration reads. “We resolve to work together in an inclusive manner to ensure human-centric, trustworthy, and responsible AI that is safe, and supports the good of all.”

The symbolic gesture comes as worldwide conversations about AI regulation over the past several months recently began to bear fruit in the form of more concrete actions.

Keep reading here.—PK

Beware the “free” iPhone: The New York Times’s Brian X. Chen has been cranking out super-servicey missives of late, and we’re here for it. First, a helpful reminder about the potential to overshare among Venmo users (roughly all of us). Then! An inquiry into why TV viewers can’t hear the dialogue when we’re watching our favorite period drama (also, approximately, all of us).

Now, Chen is back with a by-the-numbers breakdown as to why cell-service providers’ free-phone giveaways aren’t exactly giveaways. Check it out before you consider trading in that iPhone 11.