OpenAI is the San Francisco company behind ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot. One of its defining features is its unusual ownership: a nonprofit controls the business. OpenAI was founded in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab by a group that pledged $1 billion to the effort, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, along with Amazon Web Services and other backers. [28][29] Musk left in 2018. He now runs a rival AI company, xAI, and is suing OpenAI. [28]
In 2019 OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary with a "capped profit" structure, which let investors earn returns up to a set limit before extra profit flowed back to the nonprofit. In October 2025 it reorganized that business into a public benefit corporation called OpenAI Group, which sits under a nonprofit parent now called the OpenAI Foundation. [22] The Foundation holds about 26 percent of the business but keeps control, because it appoints and can remove the whole board. Microsoft is the largest outside investor, at about 27 percent, but it does not control the company. [22] For that reason, Microsoft's own political record is treated here as background, not as OpenAI's.
- Sam Altman, a longtime Democratic donor, gave six-figure support to Joe Biden in 2020 and $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund.
- In early 2025 OpenAI removed its "commitment to DEI" page and dropped the word "diversity."
- OpenAI's president and his wife gave $25M each to pro-Trump and pro-AI super PACs.
- Elon Musk and Peter Thiel helped found OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015.
- OpenAI announced a $500 billion data-center project alongside President Trump at the White House.
What OpenAI does in Washington
OpenAI did almost no federal lobbying until a few years ago. Its reported federal lobbying rose fast: about $260,000 in 2023, $1.76 million in 2024, and $2.99 million in 2025, its highest yet, according to Senate disclosures compiled by OpenSecrets. [1][2][3][21] The pace held into 2026, with about $1.2 million reported in the second quarter alone. [5]
As it spent more, OpenAI built a Washington team. It hired Chris Lehane, a longtime Democratic operative, to lead global affairs, and brought on an in-house lobbyist, Meghan Dorn, who had worked for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. [3][4] Its filings list work on national security, AI infrastructure, government adoption of AI, and specific bills such as the AI Advancement and Reliability Act, which would create a government center for AI research, and the Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act. [3] In its public messaging, OpenAI has pushed for AI to be regulated at the federal level rather than through a patchwork of state laws. [6]
State fights and "reverse federalism"
OpenAI's preference for federal rather than state rules became concrete in California. In August 2024 the company formally opposed California's SB 1047, a state AI-safety bill. In a letter to the bill's author, State Senator Scott Wiener, and to Governor Gavin Newsom, OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon argued that AI should be governed by federal policy, not state law, and warned that the bill could slow innovation and push engineers and companies out of California. [6][7] Wiener replied that the argument "makes no sense," and Newsom later vetoed the bill. [6] OpenAI also reported spending about $300,000 to lobby in California in 2025. [21] Federal databases such as OpenSecrets do not capture state lobbying, so the federal totals above describe only OpenAI's federal work.
By 2026 OpenAI's approach to states had shifted. Lehane described a plan he called "reverse federalism": with Congress deadlocked, OpenAI would lobby a "critical mass" of large states, starting with California and New York and aiming next at Illinois, to pass AI rules that line up and create a national standard in practice. [8]
The company, its leaders, and their money
Three separate things matter here: what OpenAI does as a company, what its executives do on their own, and what its employees do on their own. OpenAI says it keeps these apart.
The company. OpenAI does not run a corporate political action committee (a PAC, the fund a company uses to give to candidates). It reported no outside spending (money spent on its own to support or oppose candidates) in the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. [1] In June 2026, in its own words, OpenAI stated: "We have not made donations to any super PACs, and we do not have an employee-funded PAC. We also haven't made any donations to political candidates or campaigns." [15] It added that employees are free to take part in politics personally and, when they do, "they speak for themselves and not OpenAI." [15] OpenSecrets links $488,166 in contributions to OpenAI for the 2024 cycle; because the company has no PAC, that total reflects donations from individuals who list OpenAI as their employer, not company money. [1]
Sam Altman. Altman, the CEO and a co-founder, has a long personal record of political giving. For years he was a registered Democrat who gave mostly to Democratic candidates, including six-figure support for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign and for Senate Democrats. [9] His largest reported 2025 gifts were also to Democrats, about $7,000 to a fund tied to Senator Mark Warner and $6,600 to the Democratic Party of Virginia. [12] He has also given to some Republicans over the years, including Representatives Darrell Issa, Jay Obernolte, and John Curtis, and Senator Marsha Blackburn. [10] Altman had once been publicly critical of Donald Trump. [10] In December 2024, after Trump won a second term, Altman gave $1 million of his own money to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund. [10] After Democratic senators questioned the gift, he said it was personal and that his company had not made the choice, writing that it was "a personal contribution" and that "my company did not make a decision." [11]
Greg Brockman. The largest political money tied to an OpenAI leader comes from Greg Brockman, the company's president and a co-founder, and his wife, Anna. According to federal records reported in 2026, the couple gave about $25 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports President Trump, and about $25 million to Leading the Future, a pro-AI super PAC. [12][13] These were personal donations by the Brockmans, not company money. [12] Leading the Future campaigns against state-by-state AI rules in favor of a single national framework. It has drawn more than $100 million from Brockman and several OpenAI investors, along with venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. [13][14] OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, was reported to have been involved in the group's launch and to have consulted Brockman on his spending; Lehane has said the super PAC is "an independent thing that runs on its own." [14]
OpenAI's stated policy agenda
In March 2025 OpenAI sent the White House its proposals for a national AI Action Plan. In its own words, the company urged the government to promote "democratic AI" over "authoritarian AI," to use export controls to protect America's AI lead, to speed up federal adoption of AI, and to treat AI training on copyrighted works as a "freedom to learn." [16] Its materials framed AI as a strategic contest with China. [16]
In June 2026 OpenAI published a broader public policy agenda. It covered frontier AI safety, youth safety, deepfakes and content provenance, AI in education, workforce change, and the energy and data centers needed to run AI. [17]
OpenAI and the U.S. government
OpenAI's ties to the government have grown quickly. In early 2024 it quietly removed wording from its usage policy that had banned "military and warfare" uses of its tools. [21] In June 2024 it added retired U.S. Army General Paul Nakasone, a former director of the National Security Agency, to its board and its Safety and Security Committee. [26]
In January 2025, at a White House event with President Trump, OpenAI joined SoftBank, Oracle, and the Emirati fund MGX to announce Stargate, a plan to invest up to $500 billion over four years in U.S. AI data centers, with $100 billion to start. [27] OpenAI described the project as securing "American leadership in AI" and protecting national security. [27] Musk, by then a rival, publicly doubted the money was in place. [27]
Government contracts followed. In July 2025 the Defense Department signed a $200 million agreement with several AI firms, including OpenAI, for national security work. [25] In August 2025, through a federal purchasing effort called OneGov, OpenAI agreed to offer its ChatGPT Enterprise product to federal agencies for $1 per agency for one year. The General Services Administration said the deal supported the Trump administration's AI Action Plan. [24]
Europe and the AI Act
Altman has often called in public for governments to regulate AI. [20] In Europe, his message drew sharp attention. In May 2023, on a European tour, he told reporters that OpenAI could "cease operating" in the European Union if it could not meet the coming EU AI Act, the bloc's main AI law. A senior EU official, Thierry Breton, called the remark "blackmail." [18][19] Within days Altman reversed course and said the company had "no plans to leave." [18] TIME later reported, citing documents, that OpenAI had lobbied the EU to weaken the AI Act during the same period, even as it called in public for guardrails, and that the final law reflected changes the company had sought. [20]
Copyright and creators
OpenAI trains its models on large amounts of text from the internet, and that has put it in a long-running fight with writers and publishers. In December 2023 The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft, saying the companies used millions of its articles without permission. [30] A group of authors, including John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, and George R. R. Martin, filed a separate suit in 2023, and the cases were later combined in a New York court. [31] OpenAI has said that training AI on publicly available works is "fair use" under copyright law and does not replace the original. [30] In its 2025 policy proposals, OpenAI asked the government to protect this "freedom to learn." [16] The dispute is mainly a business and legal fight rather than a left-or-right one, but it is one of OpenAI's biggest ongoing policy battles in Washington and the courts.
A changed diversity page
OpenAI once published a page describing its "commitment to DEI" (diversity, equity, and inclusion). It said the company was investing in "diversity, equity and inclusion" and working to build "a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization." [23] In early 2025 the company removed that page. The web address now sends visitors to a "building dynamic teams" page that praises people with "different backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking" and does not use the word "diversity." [23] The change came in the weeks after President Trump returned to office and ordered federal diversity programs cut. [23]
Sources
[1] OpenSecrets, "OpenAI Profile: Summary." https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/openai/summary?id=D000084252 (accessed September 20, 2026). [2] OpenSecrets, "OpenAI Lobbying Profile." https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000084252 (accessed September 20, 2026). [3] MIT Technology Review, "OpenAI has upped its lobbying efforts nearly seven-fold," January 21, 2025. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/21/1110260/openai-ups-its-lobbying-efforts-nearly-seven-fold/ [4] TechCrunch, "AI companies upped their federal lobbying spend in 2024 amid regulatory uncertainty," January 24, 2025. https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/24/ai-companies-upped-their-federal-lobbying-spend-in-2024-amid-regulatory-uncertainty/ [5] CNBC, "OpenAI, Anthropic boost lobbying as legacy tech and defense spending slips," July 21, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/21/openai-anthropic-ai-lobbying-spending-q2-2026.html [6] TechCrunch, "OpenAI's opposition to California's AI bill 'makes no sense,' says state senator," August 21, 2024. https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/21/openais-opposition-to-californias-ai-law-makes-no-sense-says-state-senator/ [7] Bloomberg, "OpenAI Says California's Controversial AI Bill Will Hurt Innovation," August 21, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-21/openai-says-california-s-controversial-ai-bill-will-hurt-innovation [8] Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, "Inside the next phase of OpenAI's political strategy," May 20, 2026. https://www.benton.org/headlines/inside-next-phase-openai%E2%80%99s-political-strategy [9] Brennan Center for Justice, "Money in Politics Roundup, October 2025," October 9, 2025. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/money-politics-roundup-october-2025 [10] ABC News, "OpenAI's Sam Altman once warned America about Trump. Now he's partnering with him," January 28, 2025. https://abcnews.com/US/openais-sam-altman-warned-america-trump-now-partnering/story?id=118145337 [11] The Hill, "Sam Altman claps back at Senate inquiry into Trump inaugural fund donation," January 17, 2025. https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5091930-sam-altman-claps-back-at-senate-inquiry-into-trump-inaugural-fund-donation/ [12] Gizmodo, "OpenAI Really Doesn't Like the Attention Its Co-Founder's Political Donations Are Getting," June 2, 2026. https://gizmodo.com/openai-really-doesnt-like-the-attention-its-co-founders-political-donations-are-getting-2000766386 [13] CNN, "Why OpenAI says it isn't spending on SuperPACs," February 13, 2026. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/13/tech/openai-political-spending-super-pacs [14] The Hill, "Altman, OpenAI get bogged down in political spending fight," June 9, 2026. https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5912720-altman-openai-get-bogged-down-in-political-spending-fight/ [15] OpenAI, "Our views on AI policy and political advocacy," June 2026. https://openai.com/index/our-views-on-ai-policy-and-political-advocacy/ [16] OpenAI, "OpenAI's proposals for the U.S. AI Action Plan," March 2025. https://openai.com/global-affairs/openai-proposals-for-the-us-ai-action-plan/ [17] OpenAI, "OpenAI public policy agenda," June 2026. https://openai.com/index/public-policy-agenda/ [18] CNBC, "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reverses threat to cease European operations," May 26, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/26/openai-ceo-sam-altman-reverses-threat-to-cease-european-operations.html [19] Malay Mail (AFP), "OpenAI chief accused of 'blackmail' in EU dispute," May 26, 2023. https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2023/05/26/openai-chief-accused-of-blackmail-in-eu-dispute/70984 [20] TIME, "Exclusive: OpenAI Lobbied E.U. to Water Down AI Regulation," June 20, 2023. https://time.com/6288245/openai-eu-lobbying-ai-act/ [21] Forbes, "AI's Biggest Builders Are Now Its Biggest Lobbyists," February 20, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2026/02/20/ais-biggest-builders-openai-anthropic-among-biggest-government-lobbyists/ [22] CNBC, "OpenAI completes restructure, solidifying Microsoft as a major shareholder," October 28, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/28/open-ai-for-profit-microsoft.html [23] People of Color in Tech, "OpenAI Removes Diversity Commitment Page From Its Website," February 17, 2025. https://peopleofcolorintech.com/articles/openai-removes-diversity-commitment-web-page-from-its-website/ [24] U.S. General Services Administration, "GSA Announces New Partnership with OpenAI, Delivering Deep Discount to ChatGPT Gov-Wide Through MAS," August 6, 2025. https://www.gsa.gov/about-gsa/newsroom/news-releases/gsa-announces-new-partnership-with-openai-delivering-deep-discount-to-chatgpt-08062025 [25] Nextgov/FCW, "OpenAI to give federal agencies ChatGPT access at $1 per year," August 6, 2025. https://www.nextgov.com/acquisition/2025/08/openai-give-federal-agencies-chatgpt-access-1-year/407266/ [26] Bloomberg, "OpenAI Appoints Former NSA Chief Paul Nakasone to Board," June 13, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-13/openai-appoints-former-nsa-chief-paul-nakasone-to-board [27] CNN, "Stargate: Trump announces a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment," January 21, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/tech/openai-oracle-softbank-trump-ai-investment [28] CNBC, "Altman and Musk launched OpenAI as a nonprofit 10 years ago. Now they're rivals in a trillion-dollar market," December 11, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/11/openai-began-decade-ago-as-nonprofit-lab-musk-and-altman-now-rivals.html [29] IEEE Spectrum, "Billion-Dollar Nonprofit AI Research Lab to Open in San Francisco," December 2015. https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/artificial-intelligence/machine-learning/billiondollar-nonprofit-ai-research-lab-to-open-in-san-francisco [30] OpenAI, "Reporting the facts about the New York Times' lawsuit," 2025. https://openai.com/new-york-times/ [31] Al Jazeera, "Game of Thrones creator and other authors sue ChatGPT-maker for 'theft,'" September 21, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/21/openai-sued
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