NEWS

Spending on lobbying related to artificial intelligence is surging in Washington, fueled by Big Tech and a growing number of smaller startups seeking a larger voice in the debate.

K Street generated more than $53 million in AI-related lobbying revenues in the first quarter of 2026, a 36% jump from the same period last year. Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms, Inc., OpenAI, and Anthropic PBC were among the biggest spenders, but more than 100 newcomers hired lobbyists for the first time as battles over data centers, copyright, and AI safety heat up on Capitol Hill and in the White House, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis.

“In the more than two decades we’ve been lobbying, no issue has generated greater bipartisan policymaker interest than AI — what it means, risks and upsides, necessary policy responses — and the focus is only accelerating,” said Bruce Mehlman, whose firm Mehlman Consulting topped K Street earnings with more than $2.5 million in AI-related revenue in the first quarter.

The technology’s rapid adoption within industry, education, healthcare, and in households across the globe means that interest in AI policy touches nearly every policy domain and corner of the economy. And as Washington takes a more active role in AI regulation, new stakeholders are eager to weigh in.

“The acceleration tracks with what’s happening on the policy side. A year ago, companies were lobbying on AI in the abstract,” said Joseph Hoefer, a principal and chief AI officer at Monument Advocacy, which represents Amazon.com, Inc., Accenture, and Waymo LLC among other tech stalwarts. Now there are real and meaningful government actions happening, from proposals in Congress to regulate AI to President Donald Trump’s recent cybersecurity executive order and banning Anthropic from giving foreign nationals access to its most advanced models yet.

‘Sitting it out is the expensive option’

Many of the AI startups and other organizations — including universities, nonprofits, and advocacy groups — turning to K Street for the first time aren’t necessarily focused on advancing specific legislation. Some are looking to cash in on a federal push to accelerate the deployment of AI tools across government, and are enlisting lobbyists to pitch themselves to procurement officials. Others are just trying to keep up with the state of play in Washington.

“A lot of it is companies trying to understand what’s coming and make sure they’re not blindsided, which in a fast-moving environment is its own full-time job,” said Hoefer. “When the rules are genuinely up for grabs, sitting it out is the expensive option.”

One lesser-known company spending big this year is Coretsu Inc., a startup focused on providing AI tools to the government. Coretsu shelled out $610,000 to five lobbying firms during the first quarter. That was behind only Microsoft, which paid outside firms more than $772,000 to lobby on a range of issues related to AI. (Microsoft spent nearly $2.4 million on lobbying overall during the first three months of the year.)

“DC is the ultimate stress test for AI. It’s the most information-dense city in the world, but the tech infrastructure is still kicking it like it’s 1995,” Coretsu founder Alex Handy said in a statement. “We’re here because members and staff want to conquer the challenge of gaining total information awareness and making this town smarter, faster, and more efficient for taxpayers.”

But not every K Street newcomer is dropping six figures. Drone manufacturer Lucid Bots Inc., which retained AxAdvocacy Government Relations at the end of February, paid the firm $30,000 for its services last quarter. Character AI Inc., which allows users to design AI avatars, paid the law and lobbying firm Hogan Lovells $40,000 during the first quarter.

‘No. 1 Issue on my plate’

One of the most contentious fights has been between Anthropic and the Trump administration, which moved to designate the company, now valued at more than $960 billion, as a national security threat before effectively killing its most recent product update.

Anthropic retained three new outside firms since the beginning of the year — including Trump-tied Ballard Partners — after adding three additional outside lobbying firms at the end of 2025. In the first quarter of the year, Anthropic spent $490,000 on outside lobbying, the fourth-highest amount among lobbying clients. Its main competitor, OpenAI, spent just $330,000 during the same period.

AI stakeholders are also paying closer attention to shifts in public sentiment regarding AI, including data privacy and safety concerns and the technology’s impacts on the workforce, according to lobbyists.

That’s to say nothing of the nationwide backlash brewing for months over proposed data centers. A Gallup survey in March found that seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their area, despite a voluntary pledge brokered by the White House between energy companies and AI platforms that they wouldn’t pass any increase in costs to consumers.

While most of the action is focused at the state and local levels, “there will, at some point, be a renewed push for the federal side,” predicted Alex Vogel, CEO of The Vogel Group, which represents NVIDIA Corp. as well as first time federal lobbying client Geminus.AI Inc.

“Changing public attitudes toward AI are becoming a bigger part of the policy conversation,” said Joel Richard, who co-chairs the technology and competition practice at the lobbying firm Invariant LLC, which represents Apple Inc., Salesforce Inc., and SK Americas Inc. and trailed only Mehlman in AI-related earnings in the first quarter of the year. “Concern about AI’s impact is increasingly one of the few issues drawing attention from both parties.”

Complicating matters further is that AI policy has scrambled the usual partisan alignment in DC.

“AI, and how to deal with it, whether to deal with it, what that regulatory framework looks like is really not a binary partisan issue,” said Vogel. He argued that Washington’s approach to AI “may be one of the least impacted, if you will, by a potential change in the midterms.”

Even if Democrats manage to flip control of the House or Senate in November’s midterms, lobbyists don’t see that dimming the chance of passing meaningful AI legislation. “The two most bipartisan opportunities for legislating in ‘27 and ‘28, in what we assume may be a divided Washington, are artificial intelligence and China policy,” said Mehlman. “And for many companies, those are the top two issues that they care about.”

He added: “I think this remains the No. 1 issue on my plate for the rest of the decade.”