AI Startups Intensify Lobbying Efforts at the Federal Level

The push for AI advocacy at the federal level in the United States is escalating amid a burgeoning trend in generative AI and a pivotal election year that might sway the trajectory of AI oversight.

Recent figures from OpenSecrets, a non-profit organization that analyzes and reports on political funding and lobbying activities, indicate a surge in the number of entities lobbying on AI matters. This number rose from 459 in 2023 to 556 in the first half of 2024, spanning from January through July. Concurrently, leading AI firms have intensified their lobbying efforts, according to data from OpenSecrets.

Significantly, the creators of ChatGPT, OpenAI, have notably uplifted their lobbying spendings to $800,000 in the initial six months of 2024, up from $260,000 for the entirety of 2023. Additionally, the firm has expanded its cadre of external lobbying advisers from three in the previous year to approximately 15 in the first half of 2024.

In a strategic move during March, just before welcoming former NSA chief Paul Nakasone onto its board, OpenAI engaged ex-Republican Senator Norm Coleman to focus on R&D advocacy efforts. High-profile legal entities, such as Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and DLA Piper, have also registered to lobby on behalf of OpenAI, according to OpenSecrets reports.

Furthermore, OpenAI has strengthened its internal policy division, appointing Chan Park, previously with Microsoft as the senior director of congressional affairs, to lead its partnerships in the U.S. and Canada as of last November. The global affairs team at OpenAI has expanded more than fourfold since the prior year, now boasting 35 members across eight nations, as reported by the Financial Times, with plans to increase this number to 50 by year-end.

On another front, OpenAI’s competitor Anthropic is set to invest a staggering half a billion dollars in lobbying activities in the upcoming months, having already allocated $250,000 to its team of five lobbyists in 2024—a sum nearly equivalent to what it spent on three lobbyists throughout 2023 ($280,000).

Anthropic secured the services of two external lobbying groups in January, including former AWS lobbyist Stoney Burke from Aquia Group and Jed Bhuta from Tower 19. Early March saw the introduction of an in-house lobbyist to the company’s ranks.

Moreover, even smaller AI enterprises are dedicating substantial funds towards influencing policy, with Cohere, a company specializing in bespoke generative AI solutions for businesses, boosting its lobbying investment from $70,000 last year to $120,000 in the current half, OpenSecrets data shows.

The uptick in lobbying engagements by AI organizations is not coincidental.

Notably, the contrast in viewpoints regarding AI governance among leading presidential candidates is stark during this election cycle.

Democratic frontrunner Vice President Kamala Harris has indicated a propensity towards a regulatory approach akin to President Joe Biden’s, favoring federal oversight of AI. Conversely, the former president and Republican contender Donald Trump advocates for the dismantling of existing White House AI strategies in favor of deregulation.

This week, the U.S. Commerce Department unveiled a report hinting at the regulatory direction under a potential Harris Administration. Issued by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the document calls for the advancement of new generative AI models, like Meta’s Llama 3.1, while also suggesting the development of “new capabilities” for risk assessment of these models.

Despite the absence of comprehensive federal AI legislation akin to the EU’s AI Act, the gap has prompted a flurry of legislative proposals at the state and municipal level, with nearly 400 state-level AI bills introduced this year, according to advocacy group TechNet.

OpenAI has been increasingly forthright about its legislative preferences, recently backing Senate bills aimed at forming a federal AI regulation agency, funding scholarships for AI research and development, and establishing educational AI programs within colleges and K-12 schools. OpenAI currently serves as a resource for several educational institutions.

As the outcome of the November election approaches, OpenAI along with other AI firms are bracing for potential antitrust scrutiny from U.S. regulatory bodies like the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to CNBC, the FTC is investigating Amazon’s latest partnership with AI startup Adept, and both the Justice Department and FTC are probing Microsoft’s acquisition of Inflection AI team members. In a possible move to mitigate regulatory concerns, Microsoft relinquished an observer position on OpenAI’s board in July, despite being one of the major backers of the enterprise.