Lobbying Spending by AI Companies in U.S. Increased Significantly

According to TechCrunch, in 2024, lobbying spending by US companies on AI related issues has significantly increased, indicating the industry’s uncertainty about future regulation.

According to OpenSecrets data, 648 companies will participate in AI related lobbying in 2024, an increase of 141% from 458 companies in 2023. These companies are promoting industry development by supporting legislative reforms, especially as AI regulation is becoming increasingly strict.

Companies such as Microsoft and OpenAI support multiple AI related legislation, including the CREATE AI Act, which aims to promote standardized testing of AI systems in the United States. In addition, the Progress and Reliability Act aims to establish AI research centers at the federal level.

Data shows that both OpenAI and its competitor Anthropic have significantly increased lobbying spending and hired dedicated personnel to communicate with policy makers. In 2024, OpenAI’s lobbying spending will increase from $260000 in 2023 to $1.76 million (IT Home notes: currently around RMB 12.761 million); Anthropic will increase its expenditure from $280000 to $720000 (currently around RMB 5.22 million), more than double the amount in 2023.

Despite slow progress in AI policies at the federal level in the United States, states have taken proactive actions in AI regulation. For example, Tennessee became the first state to protect speech artists from unauthorized AI cloning, while Colorado introduced a risk-based graded AI policy. In addition, California has passed multiple AI security bills. However, so far no state government has been able to introduce comprehensive regulatory measures like the EU AI Act.

The Trump administration announced that it will relax regulation of the AI industry and revoke some of the previous administration’s AI risk prevention and control policies. From the trend, major companies hope to lobby for more legislation that is beneficial to their own development, but there is still great uncertainty about whether the government can effectively keep up with the pace of technological development.