AI companies, particularly OpenAI and Anthropic, dramatically escalated their federal lobbying expenditures in the second quarter of 2026. This surge saw spending reach record levels as the artificial intelligence industry aimed to influence Washington ahead of midterm elections and anticipated IPOs. OpenAI and Anthropic together spent $3.17 million in the quarter, marking a 23% increase compared to the first three months of the year.
Individually, Anthropic's lobbying expenditures reached $1.97 million in Q2 2026, reflecting a 26% increase from Q1, and impressively outspent Nvidia. OpenAI's spending rose to $1.2 million, an almost 18% increase from Q1, and came within $50,000 of Nvidia's $1.25 million. Both companies also saw a considerable increase in spending compared to the same quarter last year. These lobbying efforts focused on critical areas such as cybersecurity, copyright, cloud computing, and defense procurement.
This significant increase in AI lobbying spending contrasts with the overall trend among other major tech companies. An analysis of the 'Magnificent 7' tech giants revealed that their combined federal lobbying spending in Q2 remained relatively flat at $21.25 million, compared to $21.27 million in Q1. Among these, Meta was the largest spender at $5.99 million, followed by Amazon at $4.36 million, Google at $3.57 million, and Microsoft at $2.69 million, demonstrating the specific acceleration of lobbying by AI-centric firms.
