OpenAI

OpenAI represents the fastest-growing lobbying operation in technology history. Its spending surged 7x in a single year, from $260,000 in 2023 to $1.76 million in 2024, as the company recognized that the rules governing artificial intelligence would be written in Washington and that it needed to be at the table. CEO Sam Altman has personally become the most influential voice in AI policy, testifying before Congress and conducting a global tour meeting with heads of state to shape the narrative around AI regulation. Altman's congressional testimony in May 2023 was a masterclass in regulatory capture in real-time. Rather than fighting regulation, Altman called for it — but specifically the kind of regulation that would benefit large incumbents like OpenAI while crushing smaller competitors. He proposed licensing requirements for AI companies, mandatory safety testing, and government oversight bodies — all measures that would impose costs affordable for a company backed by $13 billion from Microsoft but devastating for startups. Senators appeared charmed by Altman's willingness to be regulated, not recognizing that he was essentially writing the rules for his own industry. OpenAI's political influence extends beyond traditional lobbying. The company has been rapidly hiring former government officials for its policy team, drawing from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, NIST, and various regulatory agencies. These hires bring institutional knowledge of how government works and personal relationships with the officials who will write AI rules. The company's DC office, which barely existed in 2022, is now a full policy operation. The company's transition from nonprofit to for-profit is itself a political story. OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit AI safety lab, with Altman and Elon Musk among its founders. The shift to a capped-profit structure in 2019, and the ongoing effort to convert to a full for-profit corporation, represents one of the most significant corporate restructurings in tech history — and one that required navigating regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions. California's Attorney General has been reviewing the conversion, while multiple state attorneys general have raised concerns about whether the nonprofit's assets (including GPT technology developed with tax-deductible donations) are being properly valued. The copyright lawsuits facing OpenAI — from The New York Times, authors, visual artists, and music publishers — represent another front where lobbying intersects with business survival. OpenAI has lobbied for interpretations of copyright law that would treat AI training on copyrighted works as "fair use," a legal theory that, if adopted, would be worth billions to the company. The company's advocacy on this issue has been particularly aggressive, with Altman personally arguing that AI cannot advance without training on copyrighted material — while his company generates billions from systems built on that training data. OpenAI's relationships with both parties are still forming, making it one of the few major tech companies that hasn't been coded as partisan. Altman has met with both Democratic and Republican leaders, positioning OpenAI as a national champion in the AI race with China rather than a partisan actor. This bipartisan approach is strategic — AI regulation will require support from both parties, and OpenAI needs both to write rules favorable to its business model.