AI firms flex lobbying muscle on both side of Atlantic
AI firms flex lobbying muscle on both side of Atlantic
Publish Date: 2026-04-25 01:36:00
Source Domain: economictimes.indiatimes.com
AI developers are ramping up efforts to win over the hearts and minds of officials in Europe and the United States, hoping to sway governments as they weigh high-stake regulatory frameworks for the ever more powerful technology.
Flush with cash, the firms are also wooing the general public, insisting that artificial intelligence will be a force for good — and not a destroyer of jobs or an existential threat for humanity.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI unveiled this month a 13-page “Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age” that calls for new taxation and expanded safety nets to ensure society withstands the arrival of superintelligent systems.
It has even bought TBPN, a technology-focused talk show, to help shape the narrative.
But the policy document also came just days after a public backlash forced the company to halt plans for a sexually explicit chatbot.
OpenAI has also faced legal challenges from families of teenagers who say ChatGPT caused harm and even suicide among young people, prompting the company to introduce an age-verification system.
“This is a turning point” for the industry, and companies “are spending a fortune to try to get favourable measures passed in their patch”, said Alexandra Iteanu, a Paris-based lawyer specialising in digital law.
Politicians in pocket?
The AI industry has transformed Washington lobbying at extraordinary speed, with more than 3,500 federal lobbyists — one-fourth of the total — working on AI issues last year, a 170% increase over three years, according to Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.
The established giants like Meta, Google and Microsoft still dominate spending, but AI start-ups like OpenAI and Anthropic have rapidly built out their Washington presence, hiring elite firms and expanding in-house policy shops.
Anthropic, for example, has focussed its message on promoting AI safety and tighter regulation.
But OpenAI is also actively pushing the industry’s top legislative priority of preventing US states from passing…
