--- title: What the past year of tech lobbying looked like - The Hustle description: Apple really hit the gas. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/937681179-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-25T233808.193Z.webp --- # What the past year of tech lobbying looked like ![Jacob Cohen](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_5670-1-modified-768x768.png?width=48&height=48&name=IMG_5670-1-modified-768x768.png) [Jacob Cohen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/jacob-cohen) [Jacob Cohen Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/ImJacobCohen) Published: January 26, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 Not today, but another time, maybe we’ll do a story on the Balloon Council, which spent [$80k](https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000047602) lobbying in 2019. ![What the past year of tech lobbying looked like](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/937681179-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-25T233808.193Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=937681179-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-25T233808.193Z.webp) 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](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/23/apple-ramped-up-lobbying-spending-in-2022-outpacing-tech-peers.html) 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](https://thehustle.co/01172023-tiktok-regulation/) how much that’s helped their cause. For more information on industry and company-specific lobbying spend, check out [OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying). 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