AI Companies Expand Political Funding, Lobbying Ahead of 2028 Election
Ah, democracy. Nothing says 'we're building the future responsibly' like quietly shovelling money into political campaigns two years before an election that won't even happen until 2028. The article from chosun.com — headline: 'AI Companies Expand Political Funding, Lobbying Ahead of 2028 Election' — doesn't bother naming figures, because why would you? But the stated rationale is a gem: policies decided over the next 2–3 years could alter the industry's growth pace and cost structure. Growth pace. Cost structure. The two sacred calves.
What are these terrifying policies that require such urgent lobbying? Mandatory pre-release safety checks for high-performance models, and disclosure requirements for risks and development data. The industry is mobilising its political war chest to fight the idea that someone might check the thing before it's unleashed, and that they might have to say what's in it. The safety gatekeepers we noted stepping into the spotlight back in October are about to get a lobbying counterweight. It's like watching a toddler campaign against the concept of a bedtime. The excerpt doesn't say which companies are writing the cheques, but you can practically hear the PowerPoint deck: 'Pre-release safety checks: an unwarranted drag on our growth pace.'
And the 2028 election? That's practically a geological era in AI time. Two whole years of policy-making to influence, which is precisely the point. The article notes that firms are prioritizing political outreach because the next 2–3 years could alter the industry's growth pace and cost structure. Translation: please don't make us spend money on safety before we've finished spending money on hype. And if disclosure requirements mean telling investors that the model occasionally invents case law or hallucinates a CEO's resignation, well, that's just bad for the cost structure. The chosun.com piece is thin on specifics — no dollar amounts, no named lobbyists — but the manoeuvre is familiar. The industry that brought you 'move fast and break things' has discovered that the things it broke are now regulated. So it's bought a suit and gone to Washington.