Federal lobbying disclosures for the second quarter, due July 20 and reported on July 21, show the AI labs spending at record levels — and one number stands out: Anthropic outspent Nvidia in Washington.
The figures
Anthropic reported $1.97 million for April through June, up 26% from the first quarter and its largest total since it began lobbying in March 2024. OpenAI reported $1.2 million, up roughly 18%. Anthropic's first-half total of more than $3.5 million already exceeds the $3.1 million it spent across all of 2025. Nvidia, by comparison, spent about $1.25 million.
Big Tech still dwarfs the labs
Meta remained the largest tech spender at $5.99 million, though that was down about 15% from Q1. Alphabet spent roughly $5.3 million, Amazon $4.36 million, Microsoft about $3 million and Oracle about $2 million. Together, Meta, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia tallied $21.25 million for the quarter.
What drove Anthropic's jump
The cause is not subtle. In June, the Commerce Department forced Anthropic to disable Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 just three days after their June 12 launch, over national-security and jailbreaking concerns. Anthropic spent much of the quarter working to get that order lifted — partial clearance for Mythos came June 27, with restrictions lifted around June 30. Its filings list export controls, cybersecurity and AI safety standards, with meetings across both chambers and at the White House, Commerce and Treasury.
The sector total
Watchdog group Issue One counted $41 million spent by the 11 largest tech and AI companies and trade associations in the first half — up about 8% year on year — with six of the biggest employing a combined 324 lobbyists in Q2, roughly one for every 1.5 members of Congress.