As the generative AI boom continues, and in an election year that could impact future AI regulation, AI lobbying at the US federal level is intensifying.
According to new data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks and publishes metrics on campaign finance and lobbying, the number of groups lobbying the federal government on AI-related issues increased to 556 in the first half of 2024 (January-July) from 459 in 2023. At the same time, top AI startups are stepping up their lobbying efforts, the OpenSecrets data found.
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has significantly increased its lobbying spending, spending $800,000 in the first six months of 2024, compared to $260,000 for all of 2023. Meanwhile, the company is growing its team of outside lobbyists from three consultants last year to about 15 in the first half of 2024.
In March, just before OpenAI welcomed former NSA Director Paul Nakasone to its board of directors, the startup hired former Republican Senator Norm Coleman to represent it on research and development issues. Other prominent law firms, including Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and DLA Piper, are also registered as lobbyists for OpenAI, according to OpenSecrets.
OpenAI has also beefed up its in-house policy team, hiring former Microsoft senior director of parliamentary affairs Chan Park as head of U.S. and Canadian partnerships in November. According to the Financial Times, OpenAI's international operations team has more than quadrupled in number since last year to 35 people across eight countries, and the company plans to expand the team to 50 by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, OpenAI rival Anthropic plans to spend $500 million on lobbying in the coming months: So far in 2024, Anthropic has invested $250,000 on a team of five lobbyists, roughly the same amount it spent on three lobbyists in all of 2023 ($280,000).
Anthropik hired two outside lobbying firms in January of last year, including former AWS lobbyists Stoney Burke of Acquia Group and Jed Boota of Tower 19. The company also has an in-house lobbyist it hired in early March.
Even smaller AI companies are pouring tens of thousands of dollars into lobbying efforts.
Cohere, which invested $700 million in lobbying policymakers last year, increased its spending to $120,000 in the first half of this year, according to data from OpenSecrets. Cohere primarily builds custom generative AI models for enterprise clients, a narrower business than OpenAI and Anthropic.
It’s no coincidence that lobbyists are getting paid more by AI vendors.
First, this is an election year, and the leading presidential candidates have made clear different positions on AI regulation.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris has signaled she agrees with President Joe Biden's view that AI should be subject to some federal oversight, while former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump has pushed to dismantle the White House's AI policy and generally deregulate it.
The Commerce Department released a report this week that may hint at the direction the Harris Administration will take. The report, from the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, advocates for the release of new generative AI models, particularly “open-door” models like Meta's Llama 3.1, but also recommended that the government develop “new capabilities” to monitor such models for risk.
Congress has yet to pass a comprehensive AI bill or even propose sweeping regulations like the EU's AI law. The federal rulemaking vacuum has left state and local governments scrambling to fill the void: Nearly 400 state-level AI bills have been proposed this year, according to lobbying group TechNet.
OpenAI, for example, has become increasingly vocal about what laws and regulations it prefers regarding AI, and this week signaled its support for a Senate bill that would create a federal rulemaking agency for AI, provide federal scholarships for AI research and development, and establish AI education resources in colleges and K-12 settings. (OpenAI has several education clients.)
As the results of the November election await, OpenAI and other AI vendors face potential antitrust lawsuits from U.S. regulators, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). CNBC reports that the FTC is seeking more information about Amazon's recently announced partnership with AI startup Adept, and the Department of Justice and FTC are said to be investigating Microsoft's acquisition of Inflection staff. Microsoft relinquished its observer seat on OpenAI's board of directors in July, a move likely aimed at assuaging the concerns of U.S. antitrust regulators as the company's largest investor.