AI Lobbyists Hit Capitol Hill at $226K/Day — Even the Bots Want a Seat at the Table 🤖

Anthropic nearly tripled its federal lobbying expenditure to $3.53 million in the first half of 2026, outspending rival OpenAI by more than $1 million, according to the Financial Times. The company added the Treasury Department to its list of lobbied agencies for the first time this quarter, while OpenAI nearly doubled its own spend to a record $2.22 million. Federal rules governing new model releases, data center construction, and power supply sit at the top of the industry agenda. "The lobbying offensive has been as much about deterring regulation as making the case for an affirmative government industrial policy that supports the industry," Amba Kak, co-executive director of AI Now Institute, said.

Issue One counted $41 million in combined lobbying spending from January to June across 11 major technology, social media, and AI companies and their trade associations, equating to more than $226,000 per day. That figure rose 8% from $38 million in the same period of 2025. Six of those companies — Alphabet, Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI — retained 324 lobbyists during the second quarter alone, roughly one lobbyist for every 1.5 members of Congress. Meta led second-quarter spending at nearly $6 million, followed by Alphabet at $5.3 million, Microsoft at about $3 million, and Nvidia at $1.25 million. Anthropic reported $1.97 million in lobbying spending for the quarter, its highest since it began lobbying in March 2024, while OpenAI spent $1.2 million over the same three months. Notably, four years ago Anthropic, Nvidia, and OpenAI had no federal lobbyists on file.

The lobbying push is not limited to tech and AI companies. Prediction market operators have stepped up their presence in Washington as well, with Kalshi spending $990,000 on lobbying in the first half of 2026, according to BeInCrypto. Including outside firms, Kalshi's total reached nearly $1.8 million, while Polymarket maintains a smaller footprint.