Artificial intelligence (AI) giants OpenAI and Anthropic flooded the nation’s capital with record levels of cash in the second quarter of 2026, ramping up their influence operations ahead of the upcoming midterm elections and their highly anticipated public stock offerings.
According to federal disclosures viewed by CNBC, the two AI powerhouses poured a combined $3.17 million into federal lobbying between April and June, a 23% surge from the first quarter.
The spending escalation signals how aggressively the young sector is moving to shape the regulatory landscape as policymakers weigh everything from voluntary safety guidelines to direct government intervention.
Anthropic led the push, spending $1.97 million during the quarter — a 26% sequential increase. Its competitor, OpenAI, spent $1.2 million, marking nearly an 18% quarterly jump. Both companies roughly doubled their lobbying outlays compared to the same period in 2025. In fact, Anthropic’s mid-year lobbying tab of more than $3.5 million has already eclipsed its entire $3.1 million budget for all of 2025.
While long-established tech giants still dominate K Street spending, OpenAI and Anthropic are rapidly closing the gap. Anthropic’s quarterly expenditure surpassed chipmaking titan NVIDIA Corp. ($1.25 million) and rivaled software giant Oracle Corp. ($2 million), while OpenAI trailed NVIDIA by less than $50,000. Disclosures reveal that the AI developers targeted several key policy areas, including cybersecurity, copyright law, cloud computing infrastructure, and defense procurement. Industry executives are seeking to sway lawmakers at a critical juncture: tech companies have already pledged at least $265 million to political super PACs ahead of the midterms, while the White House faces pushback over its light-touch regulatory stance.
Critics, including Congressional AI Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), recently slammed an executive order requesting a voluntary 30-day pre-release review of AI models, arguing it fosters a “Wild West environment” for AI development. Against this backdrop, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is scheduled to brief administration officials and key lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Big Tech, meanwhile, maintained steady lobbying budgets. A cluster of major tech firms — including Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Google, Microsoft Corp., and NVIDIA —spent $21.25 million combined, practically flat compared to the previous quarter.
Meta remained the top spender in the sector at $5.99 million, despite a 15% dip, while Amazon followed with $4.36 million. Google and Microsoft both lifted spending, allocating $3.57 million and $2.69 million respectively to target trade, China, taxes, and export controls.
By contrast, major defense contractors — historically among Washington’s heaviest spenders — scaled back their efforts.
By contrast, major defense contractors — historically among Washington’s heaviest spenders — scaled back their efforts.
The top eight U.S. defense contractors spent $19.68 million in the second quarter, down 3.3% from the first three months of the year. Lockheed Martin topped the defense sector at $4.18 million, followed by RTX ($3.86 million) and General Dynamics ($3.42 million). RTX recorded the largest dollar-amount cut, dropping $600,000, while L3Harris posted the sharpest percentage drop, slashing its budget by nearly 45%. Boeing Co. stood as the lone major defense contractor to significantly boost spending, rising 13% to $2.77 million.