Apple CEO Tim Cook (left) arrives at the White House for the state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington, DC, December 1, 2022.
Robert Schmidt | AFP | Getty Images
apple According to public information, it increased its spending on lobbying last year, increasing its annual total by 44% compared to 2021.
Apple’s lobbying spending grew the most in a year compared to industry peers, but it still lags far behind other big tech companies. The total amount of Apple’s lobbying efforts reached about $9.4 million for the entirety of 2022.This is the company’s record, but slightly below Microsoft’s $9.8 million and Google’s $10.9 million.
Amazon and facebook owner meta They topped the list for total spending, spending $19.7 million and $19.2 million, respectively. For Amazon, spending increased by about 2% compared to 2021, while Meta decreased by 4.6%.
The five tech giants spent about $69 million last year on federal lobbying efforts, up 5% from 2021.
In 2022, the tech giant faces the prospect of bipartisan legislation that will wreak havoc on its business model. Such actions include large platforms and online marketplaces unfairly promoting their products over other products posted on forums, and app stores discouraging developers from using in-app payment systems. It included an antitrust bill prohibiting coercion.
These measures were ultimately not voted on by either chamber of Congress – a fact that the bill’s sponsors at least partially blamed an aggressive technology influence campaign.
Apple’s public documents show its involvement in antitrust law in the fourth quarter, as well as issues such as online privacy, taxes, semiconductor policy, content moderation, climate change, immigration, and LGBTQ issues, including the Marriage Respect Act. I’m here. Lobbying disclosures do not include details about what the companies argued in the debate.
A spokeswoman for Apple could not be reached for comment.
While other tech companies were working on many of the same issues, some lobbied on topics specific to their business. For example, Amazon is working on cloud computing and his INFORM consumer law. The INFORM Consumer Act is a bill recently passed by Congress that seeks to stop counterfeit goods from being sold online.
Semiconductor companies also saw a significant increase in lobbying spending last year as the government considered the CHIPS and Science Act.
intelpledged to invest up to $100 billion in Ohio chip manufacturing plants, increasing lobbying spending by more than 72% from last year to over $7 million in total. micronmade a similar pledge to build a chip production facility in upstate New York, increasing lobbying spending by about 118% compared to 2021, totaling about $4.2 million.
Cryptocurrency and fintech companies also saw a significant increase in lobbying spending in 2022. The year has been marked by cryptocurrency scandals, but many companies are still spending relatively small sums. coin base It resumed lobbying last year after a long hiatus, according to public databases. The company expanded rapidly, and in 2022 he spent $3.4 million. The Blockchain Association, which has only been lobbying on behalf of various companies in the space for a few years, has increased spending by 111% compared to 2021.
Another company targeted by the government, ByteDance, owner of TikTok, saw only modest spending growth this year, up about 4% year-on-year to $4.9 million. Congress has passed an app ban on government devices. It aims to reach a resolution with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to continue operations while the company mitigates the risk of ties to Chinese owners, alerting intelligence officials and policy makers. After having its largest lobbying effort of over $2 million in the second quarter, it reduced its spending to less than $1 million in the next two quarters.
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