AI Regulation Lobbying Intensifies
Lobbying efforts concerning artificial intelligence regulation are growing from multiple fronts. Nashville songwriters recently visited Capitol Hill to advocate for copyright protections against generative models. Concurrently, a diverse campaign coalition has formed to mobilize against industry-friendly lawmakers, signaling an increasingly organized and well-funded political battle over future AI policy.
- Lobbying expenditures on AI have surged, with seven of the largest tech companies spending a combined $50 million in the first nine months of 2025. Meta led this spending at $19.7 million. Overall, registered lobbying firms generated almost $92 million in the first three quarters of 2025 from AI-related issues. - In response to industry influence, new political organizations have formed. The "Leading the Future" super PAC, backed by an initial $100 million from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman, supports candidates favoring an industry-aligned federal framework. - Countering this, the AI firm Anthropic recently donated $20 million to Public First Action, a political group that supports candidates advocating for AI regulations and opposes federal preemption of state-level laws. This highlights a growing split within the AI industry itself on how to approach regulation. - While over 150 AI-related bills were introduced in the 118th Congress, none became law. The current federal approach has been described as "innovation-first," with a focus on promoting growth and avoiding restrictive regulations that might slow development. - In the absence of a comprehensive federal AI law, states have been actively creating their own rules. In 2025, 38 states enacted approximately 100 AI-related measures, with many of these laws scheduled to become enforceable in 2026. - A key legislative battleground is the issue of federal preemption, which would block states from enforcing their own AI laws. A provision in a 2025 House reconciliation package that would have created a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws was ultimately struck down by the Senate. - Bipartisan efforts in Congress are ongoing to create a policy roadmap. The Senate AI Working Group released a report calling for an increase in non-defense AI spending to $32 billion annually, and the House AI Task Force has also released a comprehensive report with its own findings and recommendations. - Federal agencies are not waiting for congressional action to begin implementing AI. Twenty out of 23 government agencies surveyed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported using AI, prompting calls for greater transparency and disclosure of its use.
