U.S. federal lobbying disclosure filings show that OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA all set new records for their quarterly lobbying expenditures in the third quarter. From July to September, NVIDIA spent $2.2 million, Anthropic spent $2.1 million, and OpenAI spent $1.5 million.
Compared to large tech companies that have long lobbied in Washington, these figures are not particularly outstanding. Microsoft has spent at least $2 million per quarter since 2021, and Google typically spends over $3 million. However, the fact that all three companies simultaneously set records reflects the increasing involvement of AI firms in the U.S. policy process.
Anthropic's disclosed issues included AI provisions in the Kids Online Safety Act, export control content in the AI Overwatch Act, executive orders involving AI nomenclature, and the proposed Taxpayer Protection Act, which would require data center developers to bear energy costs.
OpenAI engaged with Congress, the White House, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Commerce, and the State Department, focusing on copyright, cybersecurity assessments for frontier models, AI safety oversight frameworks, and antitrust protections related to information sharing. NVIDIA's lobbying topics covered 6G networks, responsible AI design, competition policy, quantum computing, and export controls. In the same quarter, Apple also broke its own record with $3.1 million in spending.