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AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

ft.com

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Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#11

Post by kylecazar »

paytonjjones wrote: post #7
simonw wrote: post #4

> OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn, according to federal disclosures. Never ceases to amaze me how cheap lobbying is. That's pocket change for these companies.

Alternatively, couldn't this be seen as evidence on favor of the "corporate narrative" on lobbying? Namely, that the purpose of lobbying is to ensure politicians have instant and easy access to high-quality, insider information relevant to their decision-making on corporate issues (as opposed to simply being bribed)? I remember my poli sci teacher on college tried very hard to convince the class of this (with little…

I never understood that narrative either. You won't get high quality information from someone that is paying you for influence. You will get a lopsided/biased perspective, and the unwritten expectation is you will use it or contributions will cease.

Congress can and does ask companies for their expertise/stance on any given issue or policy, for free. They want to be involved for the same reason they lobby.

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#12

Post by dividefuel »

paytonjjones wrote: post #7
simonw wrote: post #4

> OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn, according to federal disclosures. Never ceases to amaze me how cheap lobbying is. That's pocket change for these companies.

Alternatively, couldn't this be seen as evidence on favor of the "corporate narrative" on lobbying? Namely, that the purpose of lobbying is to ensure politicians have instant and easy access to high-quality, insider information relevant to their decision-making on corporate issues (as opposed to simply being bribed)? I remember my poli sci teacher on college tried very hard to convince the class of this (with little…

I have a family member who's a lobbyist. When he talks about his job, a common theme is that a huge amount of his work is trying assess the impacts of policy on businesses (albeit mainly big businesses) and make sure lawmakers are able to take that into consideration. I don't know how well that represents lobbying as a whole, but that part always made sense and didn't seem like a bribe.

Several million dollars, as mentioned in the article, could easily be the cost of paying, e.g., 20 people to perform and communicate an assessment, as opposed to a direct "donation" to a politician. It's not said where that money was spent.

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#13

Post by simonw »

nancyminusone wrote: post #10
01284a7e wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so cheap that normal people could band together and re-buy democracy. It's the banding together part that is hard.

I already pay for my government in taxes (which ironically these big cos don't pay). Besides, if I were to gather up 4 million to lobby, the opposition would simply spend 8 million instead which they could come up with just as easily. They don't have to outrun the bear, the just have to outrun you.

Yeah, I would like my taxes to go to paying for expertise to help make good governance decisions, personally.

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#14

Post by paytonjjones »

kylecazar wrote: post #11
paytonjjones wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatively, couldn't this be seen as evidence on favor of the "corporate narrative" on lobbying? Namely, that the purpose of lobbying is to ensure politicians have instant and easy access to high-quality, insider information relevant to their decision-making on corporate issues (as opposed to simply being bribed)? I remember my poli sci teacher on college tried very hard to convince the class of this (with little…

I never understood that narrative either. You won't get high quality information from someone that is paying you for influence. You will get a lopsided/biased perspective, and the unwritten expectation is you will use it or contributions will cease. Congress can and does ask companies for their expertise/stance on any given issue or policy, for free. They want to be involved for the same reason they lobby.

The same could be said about the judicial system though, right? Both the prosecution and defense are paid to influence the judge, and will naturally provide a biased perspective. But that doesn't mean there's not high quality information within.

I don't think biased information is a total dead end, but the onus is just on judges and politicians to tease out information from more than one angle. And often they don't.

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#16

Post by bena »

simonw wrote: post #4

> OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn, according to federal disclosures. Never ceases to amaze me how cheap lobbying is. That's pocket change for these companies.

Because lobbying is essentially just the process of petitioning the government. Mostly.

It's buying dinners so you can talk with a Representative or Senator one-on-one. It's traveling to D.C. or the Congressperson's home state. It's paying for studies and etc to support your points. It's financing campaigns of politicians who already agree with your viewpoints. It's not "here's money, make law".

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#18

Post by renegade-otter »

01284a7e wrote: post #5
simonw wrote: post #4

> OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn, according to federal disclosures. Never ceases to amaze me how cheap lobbying is. That's pocket change for these companies.

It's so cheap that normal people could band together and re-buy democracy. It's the banding together part that is hard.

I think of that Netflix series on FIFA and its rampant corruption. The bribes in question are laughable, considering that FIFA is a multi-billion dollar operation, and it's always some round number like $1M. At least add some cents to it so it's not glaringly obvious in the bank accounts.

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#19

Post by jonas21 »

01284a7e wrote: post #5
simonw wrote: post #4

> OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn, according to federal disclosures. Never ceases to amaze me how cheap lobbying is. That's pocket change for these companies.

It's so cheap that normal people could band together and re-buy democracy. It's the banding together part that is hard.

Many of the groups that spend the most on lobbying are composed of "normal" people who have banded together for some common interest. For example:

- The AARP ($21M annual spend) has 38M members

- The National Association of Realtors ($54M annual spend) has 1.5M members

- The American Medical Association ($24M annual spend) has 300K members

Of course that doesn't mean that their interests necessarily align with your interests.

Re: AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

#20

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

jonas21 wrote: post #19
01284a7e wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so cheap that normal people could band together and re-buy democracy. It's the banding together part that is hard.

Many of the groups that spend the most on lobbying are composed of "normal" people who have banded together for some common interest. For example: - The AARP ($21M annual spend) has 38M members - The National Association of Realtors ($54M annual spend) has 1.5M members - The American Medical Association ($24M annual spend) has 300K members Of course that doesn't mean that their interests necessarily align with your i…

Also if they want my money then their interests align.
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