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# OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia each had a record lobbying quarter, The Verge reports
- URL: https://theainewsfiles.com/openai-anthropic-nvidia-record-lobbying-quarter-q3-2026/
- Published: 2026-10-22T17:14:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T17:14:25.000Z
- Description: Federal disclosures show OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia each had their highest-spending lobbying quarter between July and September, The Verge reports. By The Verge's figures, together they spent about $5.8 million.
- Author: J E Cowie
- Tags: News

Anthropic, OpenAI and Nvidia each had their highest-spending lobbying quarter between July and September, federal disclosures show, according to The Verge's Lauren Feiner, who reported the story on 22 October 2026.

## The figures

The Verge, citing federal disclosures, puts Nvidia's third-quarter spend at $2.2 million, the largest of the three. Anthropic follows at $2.1 million and OpenAI at $1.5 million. Added together, those come to $5.8 million, and The Verge's subheading says the three spent "nearly $6 million" collectively. AI Brief, summarising figures from POGO Investigates, put the three companies' combined third-quarter spending higher, at about $7.5 million.

AI Brief, summarising figures from POGO Investigates, said the three companies have spent about $37 million on federal lobbying since the start of 2024, roughly half of it in 2026.

The Verge sets the sums against longer-established players. Microsoft, it says, has spent at least $2 million a quarter going back to 2021, and Google regularly spends over $3 million, including this quarter. Apple, it adds, also had a record quarter at $3.1 million, the first in which it has reported more than $3 million. The Verge's reading is that the AI firms' figures are not out of the ordinary for Big Tech, but "a clear signal" that they recognise how important shaping policy has become.

## What they lobbied on

According to The Verge, Anthropic included a detailed list of bills, executive orders and other topics it lobbied Congress and the White House about in the third quarter. They included AI-related provisions in the Kids Online Safety Act, export control provisions in the AI Overwatch Act, Trump's executive order renaming AI "Super Intelligence", and the Ratepayer Protection Act, which aims to put energy costs for data centres on their developers.

![The exterior of Nvidia's corporate headquarters building](https://theainewsfiles.com/content/images/2026/10/shot2_the-exterior-of-nvidia-s-corporate-headq.jpg)

Nvidia's headquarters. Illustrative.

Nvidia lobbied on AI chip export controls in the Senate's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Crypto Briefing reported, citing Punchbowl News. Among other topics, The Verge says, it lobbied Congress, several federal agencies and White House offices on 6G networks, "responsible AI design", competition policy and quantum computing.

According to The Verge, beyond copyright, OpenAI lobbied Congress, the White House, the Small Business Administration and the Commerce and State Departments over cybersecurity evaluations for frontier models, AI safety oversight frameworks and antitrust protections for information sharing.

AI Brief's summary lists the topics in the three companies' disclosures more broadly: semiconductor trade policy, export controls, cybersecurity, copyright, Pentagon procurement, child protection and the effect of AI on jobs.

## The chip export fight

Crypto Briefing, citing Punchbowl News, wrote on 20 October that Nvidia, Anthropic, Google and Intel all lobbied against proposals to limit AI chip exports. It said the measures were advancing through the Senate's version of the NDAA: the AI OVERWATCH Act, the Chip Security Act and the MATCH Act. It described the proposals as having drawn bipartisan support, and noted that Anthropic has at times backed stricter export measures.

Crypto Briefing added a caveat about Anthropic. The company appears on the list of third-quarter lobbyists, it said, yet has at times backed stricter export measures. It also reported that, as of late September 2026, Nvidia and AMD had stepped up outreach to the Trump White House and the Commerce Department, aiming to block or delay restrictions on AI chip sales to China.

## The political backdrop

The Verge says tech CEOs were already visible in Washington during this period. Many attended a White House lunch with President Donald Trump in late September, which resulted, The Verge says, in an AI safety accord they agreed to. The disclosures, it says, show that more discussions were happening behind the scenes, just before Trump named his AI czar and task force.

The Verge notes that the quarter marks a lead-up to the midterm elections.

The Verge's account shows the direction of travel: OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia each set a single-quarter record.

## Sources

AI Brief (2026) 'OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia Spend $7.5 Million on Third Quarter Lobbying', AI Brief, 21 October 2026, available at: [https://dailyaibrief.com/news/openai-anthropic-nvidia-third-quarter-lobbying-spending-YdVNjXak](https://dailyaibrief.com/news/openai-anthropic-nvidia-third-quarter-lobbying-spending-YdVNjXak?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

Almada Lopez, D. (2026) 'Nvidia, Google, Intel and Anthropic lobbied against AI chip export restrictions in Q3', Crypto Briefing, 20 October 2026, available at: [https://cryptobriefing.com/nvidia-google-intel-anthropic-lobby-chip-exports/](https://cryptobriefing.com/nvidia-google-intel-anthropic-lobby-chip-exports/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

Feiner, L. (2026) 'OpenAI, Anthropic, and Nvidia had record lobbying quarters', The Verge, 22 October 2026, available at: [https://www.theverge.com/policy/1016585/openai-anthropic-nvidia-lobbying-records](https://www.theverge.com/policy/1016585/openai-anthropic-nvidia-lobbying-records?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

## Picture credits

- Top picture: The US Capitol, where Congress sits. Illustrative. Photo: Noclip ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capitol%5FBuilding%5FFull%5FView.jpg?ref=theainewsfiles.com))
- Nvidia's headquarters. Illustrative. NVIDIA Headquarters — photo by Coolcaesar, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NVIDIA%5FHeadquarters.jpg?ref=theainewsfiles.com))