Reeling From Major Lawsuit Losses, Big Tech Injects Huge Sums Into Influence Operations

An Issue One review of newly filed federal lobbying reports shows 11 key technology, social media, and artificial intelligence (AI) companies, along with their associated trade associations, pumped a combined $20 million into federal lobbying operations during the first three months of 2026 — an average of about $226,000 per day.

The lobbying blitz comes as major tech titans also funneled more than $190 million into their super PACs to boost and attack candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. The industry, now on a desperate campaign of damage control after major legal losses in Los Angeles and New Mexico, has launched a multifaceted influence operation to kill safeguards, stall accountability, and rewrite legislation at the state and federal level.

“We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the Big Tech era of dominance. As tech companies are reeling from some of the worst defeats they have ever suffered, they are aggressively deploying their war chests to shape state and federal legislation, influence the White House, and overpower voters,” said Issue One Vice President of Advocacy Alix Fraser.”

Fraser continued: “This year, courts in Los Angeles and New Mexico exposed that tech executives knew their products were harming children online and violated state law. Rather than changing course, the tech industry has opened the floodgates, pouring massive sums into aggressively rewriting federal legislation, wooing lawmakers to look the other way, and funding super PACs to defeat any candidate who opposes their agenda. These numbers show that these companies won’t go down without a huge fight, even if it is one they are likely to lose.”

New filings reviewed by Issue One show that six of the biggest tech, social media, and AI companies — Alphabet (the parent company of Google and YouTube), Anthropic (the AI company behind chatbot Claude), Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), Microsoft, AI chipmaker Nvidia, and OpenAI (the AI company behind ChatGPT) — hired a total of 307 lobbyists during the first quarter of 2026.

That’s the equivalent of slightly more than one lobbyist for every two members of Congress, and comes on the heels of power players like Meta, Nvidia, and OpenAI spending record sums on lobbying in 2025.

This figure includes 30 lobbyists who work for private K Street firms representing two or more of these six companies.

Alphabet alone hired 88 lobbyists. And Meta hired 86 lobbyists. In each case, that’s roughly one for every six members of Congress.

The lobbying surge comes as bipartisan momentum reaches a fever pitch on Capitol Hill to hold Big Tech accountable.

For years, tech companies have been accused of knowingly designing and deploying dangerous products that fueled harms ranging from threats to children’s safety and scams targeting seniors, to drug trafficking, sexual abuse material, and political manipulation by foreign adversaries. And recent polls show voters are also increasingly wary of AI’s impact on life.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have taken notice. But that’s not stopping Big Tech from digging deep to influence policymakers and trying to buy votes by electing allies into office.

Following the Big Tech Money to Lobbyists

Among these major tech players, Meta reported the largest lobbying expenditures during the first quarter of 2026. Between January and March, Meta spent nearly $7.1 million on federal lobbying, down slightly from what it spent during the first quarter of 2025, but still an average of nearly $80,000 per day.

Meanwhile, Alphabet reported spending $4.1 million on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2026 — up slightly from the first quarter of 2025. This sum amounted to an average of nearly $46,000 per day.

Microsoft reported spending $2.6 million on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2026 — up slightly from the first quarter of 2025. This sum amounted to an average of nearly $30,000 per day.

Anthropic reported spending nearly $1.6 million on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2026 — a 333% increase from the first quarter of 2025, when it spent $360,000. Between January and March, Anthropic spent an average of roughly $17,000 per day on lobbying.

Nvidia reported spending $1.3 million on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2026 — a 37% increase from the first quarter of 2025. This sum amounted to an average of roughly $14,000 per day.

OpenAI reported spending $1 million on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2026 — an 82% increase from the first quarter of 2025. This sum amounted to an average of approximately $11,000 per day.

And social media companies Snap and X (formerly known as Twitter) each saw modest increases in their lobbying expenditures during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, with Snap spending $400,000 and X spending $190,000.

One major tech player that saw a large decrease in lobbying expenditures between the first quarter of 2026 and 2025 was ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.

Since 2024, ByteDance has been under pressure to divest from its Chinese government-aligned owners or shut down to comply with a law passed by Congress with bipartisan support. In January, ByteDance finalized a deal to avoid a ban and create a new U.S. entity with majority owners including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX.

ByteDance spent about $1.6 million on lobbying during the first quarter — down roughly 45% from the same period the previous year, when it spent $2.8 million.

Tech-aligned trade associations NetChoice and TechNet each also invested far less during the first quarter of 2026 than they did during the same period a year ago. TechNet spent $370,000, between January and March, down from $570,000 during the first quarter of 2025. NetChoice spent $60,000, down from $110,000 during the first quarter of 2025.