TThe number of groups lobbying the U.S. federal government on artificial intelligence nearly tripled from 2022 to 2023, from 158 to 451 organizations, according to data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying. Data on the total amount spent on lobbying by each organization and interviews with two congressional staffers, two nonprofit advocates familiar with AI lobbying efforts, and two named experts suggest that big tech companies have so far dominated efforts to influence potential AI legislation. And while these companies have publicly supported AI regulation, in closed-door conversations with employees they tend to push for soft, voluntary rules, congressional officials and advocates say.
In November 2021, OpenAI launched its extremely popular chatbot, ChatGPT. Six months later, leading AI researchers and industry executives signed a statement warning that “the risk of AI extinction must be a global priority, along with other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” Lawmakers around the world sat up and took notice. US President Joe Biden signed a sweeping AI executive order; the EU amended its landmark AI law to ensure that the models powering chatbots like ChatGPT are regulated; and the UK government convened the world’s first AI Security Summit.
See more information: The three most important AI policy milestones of 2023
While Congress has not yet passed any AI-specific legislation, there has been a flurry of AI-related activity in Congress, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer convening “Insight Forums” to educate Congress about AI. rapidly evolving technology. As substantial federal AI legislation began to be seen as a possibility, lobbyists flooded Capitol Hill to advance their organizations’ interests.
“Obviously, Congress has been writing AI bills for a long, long time — this is nothing new. What’s new is the scale at which Congress is writing and releasing bills,” says Divyansh Kaushik, vice president at D.C.-based consulting firm Beacon Global Strategies. “That’s what’s driving a lot of this engagement.”
New faces
Of the 451 organizations that lobbied for AI in 2023, 334 – nearly three-quarters of the total number – did so for the first time in 2023. Present in the crowd of new organizations pushing for time with officials and policymakers on the Hill were the relatively young companies building the most advanced AI models such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere.
OpenSecrets data is an imperfect measure; it tracks AI-specific lobbying by searching the lobbying disclosure forms that organizations are required to fill out quarterly for the words “artificial intelligence” or “AI.” Two congressional staffers TIME spoke to suggested that the number of lobbyists they have met in person has remained roughly the same. However, they said AI has become a much more common topic of discussion. “Everyone who comes and talks to us and wants to talk about AI,” said one congressional staffer, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak about discussions with lobbyists and advocates.
For example, companies such as payment card company Visa, pharmaceutical conglomerate GSK and accounting firm Ernst and Young have started to mention AI in their lobbying disclosure forms. The company’s interests were also represented by industry trade associations such as BSA The Software Alliance. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and startup accelerator Y Combinator also lobbied for AI for the first time in 2023, according to OpenSecrets analysis.
Many civil society organizations have also lobbied on AI issues for the first time in 2023. The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations – the largest federation of unions in the US – have joined the fray, as has the main labor organization civil rights, the NAACP. More technology-oriented civil society organizations, such as the Omidyar Network and the Mozilla Foundation, have also entered the fray. Nonprofits focused on the threats that future AI systems could pose to public safety, such as the Center for AI Policy and the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, also filed lobbying disclosures for the first time this year. Finally, several universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, are reported to have lobbied for AI in 2023.
Big Tech’s Deep Pockets
All organizations that engage in lobbying, the legal definition of which includes only the direct discussion of specific laws or regulations, are required to report how much they spent on lobbying. However, this data is only reported as a general total amount, meaning it is impossible to know how much of this total amount each organization is spending specifically on AI-related lobbying, compared to other policy issues. But by this rough metric, many of the newcomers spend significantly more than big tech companies, which have been increasing their lobbying spending for a decade.
In 2023, Amazon, Meta, Google parent Alphabet, and Microsoft each spent more than $10 million on lobbying, according to data provided by OpenSecrets. The Information Technology Industry Council, a trade association, spent $2.7 million on lobbying. By comparison, the civil society group Mozilla Foundation spent $120,000 and the AI safety nonprofit the Center for AI Safety Action Fund spent $80,000.
Given that the definition of lobbying only includes talking to employees about specific laws, these numbers likely underestimate the amounts of money that tech companies are spending to influence lawmakers, says Hamza Chaudhry, a US policy expert at the Future of Life Institute. , a nonprofit organization that focuses on the risks posed by advanced technologies.
Several Hill supporters and sources have suggested that the consistently high amounts spent by big tech companies have allowed them to build a sophisticated lobbying apparatus that has so far surpassed the efforts of other organizations. “There has been an emergence of all these AI safety lobbying groups and also a lot of civil society groups that are now starting their AI focuses, but by far the best at this are the technology groups,” said another congressional staffer. , who also wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak about discussions with lobbyists and advocates. Tech companies are able to spend more and therefore pay for more experienced lobbyists who better understand the technical details of their briefing and have a more extensive network in Congress, the official said.
“I would still say that civil society – and I’m including academia in this, all different types of people – would be outperformed by big tech five to one, ten to one,” says Chaudhry.
Public statements vs. private lobby
Why exactly is the tech industry lobbying? Some in the industry are against regulating AI, arguing that regulation would impede technological progress. In December 2023, Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, wrote a blog post which said his company would support any political candidate who opposed regulations that stifle innovation.
But many of the companies involved in developing AI have, at least publicly, adopted a cooperative tone when discussing potential regulation. Executives at newer companies that have developed the most advanced AI models, such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, called for regulation when testifying at the audiences and participating in Insight Forums. Executives at the most established big technology companies have made similar statements. For example, Microsoft Vice President and President Brad Smith called to a federal licensing regime and a new agency to regulate powerful AI platforms. Both newer AI companies and more established tech giants have signed deals organized by the White House voluntary commitments intended to mitigate the risks posed by AI systems.
But in closed-door meetings with congressional offices, the same companies are often less supportive of certain regulatory approaches, according to multiple sources present or familiar with such conversations. In particular, companies tend to advocate very permissive or voluntary regulations. “Anytime you want to force a tech company to do something mandatory, they’re going to push back,” said a congressional staffer.
Others, however, say that although companies sometimes try to promote their own interests at the expense of the public interest, most lobbying helps produce sensible legislation. “Most companies, when they get involved, try to do their best in terms of making sure that we’re enhancing U.S. national security or enhancing U.S. economic competitiveness,” says Kaushik. “At the same time, obviously the end result is important.”
There is little time left for Congress to pass an AI-related bill before the presidential election. Whether an AI bill is passed in the coming months, or not before the 119th Congress, lobbying efforts from all parties are only expected to increase as the legislation approaches.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
