New Expert Agency May Be Necessary to Regulate Digital Economy, Say Panelists

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2026 – The creation of a new federal agency may be necessary to oversee artificial intelligence and the rest of the digital economy, industry experts said at the State of the Net conference here Monday.

“Right now the government is dumb and stupid when it comes to AI, and it’s kind of deliberately so,” said Blair Levin , policy advisor at New Street Research and former chief of staff at the Federal Communications Commission. “You actually need another agency.”

While it might be possible for existing agencies like the FCC or the Federal Trade Commission to perform such a mission, Levin and the other panelists said that a narrower agency that focused on the specific questions of the digital economy would better protect consumers.

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