First in the nation: Gov. Jeff Landry announced on Monday that Louisiana is the first in the nation to receive federal approval for its $1.355 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment plan. This funding, administered through the state’s Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities 2.0 program, aims to connect over 140,000 locations to high-speed internet and drive significant economic growth across all 64 parishes. Read more from The Center Square.  Executive order: President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order on artificial intelligence aiming to ensure the infrastructure needed for advanced AI operations, such as large-scale data centers, can be built quickly. The order directs federal agencies to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development at government sites, while imposing requirements and safeguards on the developers. It also directs certain agencies to make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities. Read more from The Associated Press.  December drop: U.S. wholesale inflation unexpectedly cooled in December, helped by a drop in food costs and flat services prices that may help temper concerns of lingering price pressures. The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2%—slightly slower than analysts predicted—from a month earlier, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Tuesday. Read more from Bloomberg. A subscription may be required.