Big Tech Spends Millions to Buy Influence in Washington in First Half of 2026

An Issue One review of newly filed lobbying disclosures reveals that 11 of the largest technology, social media, and artificial intelligence (AI) companies, along with their leading trade associations, spent a combined $41 million lobbying the federal government between January and June — an average of more than $226,000 per day. That’s up roughly $3 million (or 8%) from the $38 million spent by these same entities during the first six months of 2025. And just four years ago, major AI players Anthropic, Nvidia, and OpenAI didn’t even have federal lobbyists.

“Big Tech’s influence campaign has burrowed deep into Washington,” said Issue One Vice President of Advocacy Alix Fraser. “After pouring millions of dollars into lobbying, campaign spending, and political influence, the tech industry’s wealthiest and most powerful executives are cashing in, securing extraordinary access, and watching the Trump administration bend policy to suit their financial interests.”

Fraser continued: “This is pay-to-play politics, plain and simple. But the implications are existential to every American. While Washington decides the future role of artificial intelligence in society, whether we will protect children online, how to protect U.S. national security, and more, powerful corporations are buying their way into the room and rewriting the rules to protect themselves above the interests of the American people. Americans deserve a government that operates with transparency and integrity — not one shaped by backroom deals and special access.”

Issue One’s analysis of new federal filings 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 Claude), Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), Microsoft, AI chipmaker Nvidia, and OpenAI (the AI company behind ChatGPT) — paid for a combined 324 lobbyists during the second quarter of 2026.

That’s the equivalent of approximately 1 lobbyist for every 1.5 members of Congress, and comes as many of those same companies enjoy an unprecedented level of access to the executive branch. This figure includes 30 lobbyists from private lobbying firms representing two or more of these six companies.

Among these major tech players, Meta reported the largest lobbying expenditures during the second quarter of 2026. Between April and June, Meta spent nearly $6 million on federal lobbying — an average of approximately $66,000 per day.

Meanwhile, Alphabet reported spending $5.3 million on federal lobbying during the second quarter of 2026 , averaging roughly $58,000 per day.

Microsoft reported spending about $3 million between April and June, while Nvidia spent $1.25 million, and OpenAI spent $1.2 million.

Anthropic reported spending a record $1.97 million on lobbying between April and June — more than any other quarter since it first started lobbying in March of 2024. That amounted to an average of roughly $22,000 per day.

Social media companies Snap and X reported lobbying expenditures of $240,000 and $190,000, respectively.

Tech trade associations TechNet and NetChoice also continued their lobbying efforts, spending $440,000 and $60,000, respectively.

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, reported spending $1.14 million lobbying the federal government during the second quarter. (Note: As of 11:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, July 21, the majority American-owned entity that manages U.S. data security, content moderation, and algorithm retraining for TikTok and files a separate lobbying report from ByteDance — known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC — had not yet filed its mandatory second quarter report, which was due at 11:59 pm Monday, July 20. A representative from TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC did not immediately respond to a request from Issue One about when their filing could be expected.)

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Issue One is the leading crosspartisan political reform group in Washington, D.C. We unite Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the movement to fix our broken political system and build an inclusive democracy that works for everyone.