What the past year of tech lobbying looked like

Not today, but another time, maybe we’ll do a story on the Balloon Council, which spent $80k lobbying in 2019.

For now, let’s talk tech. In 2022, while Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Apple collectively increased lobbying spend 5%, Apple especially hit the gas — growing 44% to ~$9.4m.

Public filings show the company lobbied on antitrust bills, online privacy issues, taxes, semiconductors, climate change, immigration, LGBTQ issues, and more, per CNBC.

Elsewhere, there was increased focus around:

• Semiconductors: Intel increased its lobbying spend 72% to $7m+. Micron spent $4.2m lobbying, up ~118% YoY, as the government worked on the CHIPS and Science Act.
• Crypto: Coinbase spent $3.4m lobbying in 2022, and the Blockchain Association expanded its spending 111% YoY.
• TikTok: Parent company ByteDance’s lobbying spend rose 4% to $4.9m, though it’s unclear how much that’s helped their cause.

For more information on industry and company-specific lobbying spend, check out OpenSecrets.