(Illustration: Luna Velez / POGO) |
|
|
|
Three of the nation’s leading artificial intelligence companies spent 22% more on federal lobbying over July, August, and September compared to the second quarter of this year, and nearly 60% more than the same period last year, according to POGO Investigates’ review of new disclosures. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Nvidia spent about $7.5 million combined on lobbying the federal government in the third quarter. Since the beginning of 2024, the companies have spent about $37 million on federal lobbying — roughly half of that is from this year alone. The three companies’ spending marks a continuation in an upward trend in their financial efforts to influence lawmakers in Washington. The influx of increased spending on federal lobbying occurred at a time when AI and the data centers behind them faced criticism across the political spectrum, by the public at large, and even from company insiders. Those concerns range from fears of mass unemployment due to AI replacing workers, environmental degradation due to data center water use, rising electricity prices, adverse social impacts such as learning loss and greater isolation, and even existential threats. “Elected officials in Congress and the president and his team are in an interesting position because all of the money is on the side of no regulation, no accountability,” said Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of the nonprofit Alliance for Secure AI Action. He cited the imbalance between money — including AI companies’ lobbying and large donations to political campaigns — and public opinion. Read the new investigation on pogo.org/investigates. |
|
|
|
More from the POGO Investigates Desk |
|
|
|
https://prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/PGO/PGO/1/78922/wEtZvGStefjwD8mW8XVHXhLrvOsrVxJ6UtGIO_rbXjF_archive
Comments
Post a Comment