Silicon Valley’s A.I. Lobbying Blitz Reaches a Fever Pitch
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- OpenAI opened its first Washington lobbying office, the Workshop, and spent $1 million on federal lobbying in Q1, double its 2023 spend.
- Anthropic opened a Washington office in April, hired six lobbying firms, and increased its lobbying spend tenfold to $3 million last year.
- AI lobbyists now represent 25 % of the 13,000 federal lobbyists in Washington, up from 11 % in 2023.
- Meta, Nvidia, and Alphabet collectively spent $47.8 million on federal lobbying last year, a 22 % increase from 2024, with Meta and Alphabet leading.
- Issue One policy lead Isabel Sunderland warned that AI firms are pouring “unprecedented” money into lobbying to protect profits and image amid public anxiety.
Why it matters: Congressional policymakers will face heightened pressure from AI firms spending $52 M on lobbying, giving companies like OpenAI and Anthropic a louder voice while consumer privacy advocates risk being sidelined.
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