Lobbying

Two government watchdog groups have demanded investigations into whether Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty violated ethics requirements by accepting luxury gala tickets from Paramount as the company sought government approval for its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

Amazon, Iridium, Telesat, and Globalstar announced the formation of a new trade association representing the non-geostationary satellite economy: the SpaceConnect Association. SpaceConnect will advocate globally for policies that support the growth, innovation, and responsible deployment of NGSO satellite systems. The group will engage with international institutions, governments, and the industry to ensure NGSO systems continue to play a central role in advancing global connectivity, economic development, and space sustainability.

Jeff Bezos—along with newly minted trillionaire Elon Musk—has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD), a $42.45 billion broadband expansion program passed as part of President Joe Biden’s 2021 “Build Back Better” initiative.

Days after the U.S. presidential election in November 2024, then-Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr posted a photo of himself with Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump at a SpaceX rocket launch. “A historic day at Starbase,” Commissioner Carr wrote in the post, referring to the Texas headquarters of Mr. Musk’s rocket and satellite company. “Another giant leap forward.” Around the same time, Mr. Musk recommended Commissioner Carr to President Trump as an ideal leader for the agency.

President Donald Trump has gotten involved in regulatory decisions big and small that once were made by independent agencies, dramatically shifting the balance of power across Washington and reordering how influence campaigns are waged. Political appointees by nature tend to be closely aligned with the president’s worldview. But former agency officials across administrations say it is highly unusual for presidents to be so intimately involved in the details of regulatory reviews.

The artificial intelligence industry’s push for tech-friendly federal legislation is foundering in Washington. So OpenAI’s top lobbyist and political strategist is pursuing a backup strategy—setting national AI policy by waging a state-by-state campaign. Chris Lehane calls the plan “reverse federalism”: With Capitol Hill deadlocked, the company behind ChatGPT is increasingly spending its time lobbying for state legislatures to pass laws on AI safety that the industry can live with.

AI super PACs are stockpiling cash ahead of the midterms and laying the groundwork for competitive races, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. AI

Advances in AI's ability to take on novel scientific work are helping researchers move faster, connect siloed knowledge, and design trea

AI CEOs' lofty pitches for AI governance may end up being pipe dreams in a town that routinely fumbles tech policy. OpenAI's new industrial p

Anthropic is launching a corporate PAC, following the path of other tech companies that operate similar employee-funded PACs. AnthroPAC will be funded through voluntary employee contributions capped at $5,000 per person annually under federal election law. It will be overseen by a bipartisan board and disclose its activity through Federal Election Commission filings.