Commerce Department studies AI for safer phone networks.
H.R. 7294 — AI for Secure Networks Act · Filed by Robert Menendez (D-NJ) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 30, 2026 · Markup held
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What it does
The bill tells the Department of Commerce to study how AI can make U.S. phone networks safer. The study looks at spotting attacks, making networks strong, and new tech like Open Radio Access Networks. The Commerce Secretary must talk with the FCC and phone firms. The Secretary reports findings and new law ideas to Congress within one year. The public gets to comment before the final report.
Who it affects
All people who use phone networks could get safer service. Phone firms, makers of network gear, and AI safety firms will help shape the study.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say which phone firms will help. It does not require outside researchers to join the study.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Jan 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
- Sep 1, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $3,050,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 26 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.
Robert Menendez, who sponsored the bill, received $756,699 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Verizon Communications Inc and Various Subsidiaries — $3,050,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- Open Radio Access Networks — New tech that lets phone networks use gear from many makers.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Apr 14, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-17.
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