Duffy Denies FAA AI Tool Caused Nationwide Ground Stop

The dispute matters less for the AI angle than for what it reveals about infrastructure fragility: Duffy points to overloaded legacy telecom equipment, not the agency's AI tooling, as the cause of a nationwide halt. That distinction shapes how the FAA's planned expansion of SMART to airspace across 22 centers will be scrutinized. Whether the modernization push proceeds on schedule, and whether legacy systems remain the binding constraint, is the open question worth watching.