I saw some old news from last month regarding Anthropic's lobbying efforts.

As reported in April, Anthropic hired the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which has close ties to the Trump administration. Interestingly, the lobbying documents reveal that this hiring occurred during a period of rapid change, just four days after the U.S. military raised concerns about Anthropic's supply chain risks.

What I want to discuss is the pivotal point in negotiations: the military wants to use Anthropic's AI tools without restrictions, while Anthropic insists on ensuring their systems are not used for deploying autonomous weapons or large-scale surveillance on the American public. Compliance with AML standards and risk management thus become critical issues in these negotiations.

Ballard Partners is the sixth external lobbying firm hired by Anthropic. They also work with Avenue Solutions and Navigators Global. Clearly, Anthropic is serious about building relationships within the public policy sphere.

The disclosed lobbying data is quite notable. Anthropic's federal lobbying expenses in 2025 surged over 330%, reaching $3.1 million. OpenAI's lobbying increased by about 70%, totaling around $3 million. Even more startling is that AI-related lobbying in Q4 2025 hit a new record of $37.2 million, up 38% year-over-year.

This indicates that AI companies are seriously working to influence policy, whether it's about regulation, risk management, or compliance. This situation may signal that the AI industry is entering a new era of working closely with government authorities.