Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has spent $1.49 million so far in federal lobbying this year, according to lobbying records filed in the Congress. a16z turns out to be narrowly outspending even its own industry trade group, the National Venture Capital Association.
According to TechCrunch, the pace of lobbying has been increasing per year. The VC firm spent $1.8 million on lobbying in all of 2024 and $950,000 in 2023.
a16z stands out among major VC firms for its lobbying. In comparison, Sequoia Capital has reported just $120,000 year-to-date, while General Catalyst is at $500,000 for the same period. a16z’s spend on the other hand, is just ahead of the NVCA’s $1.40 million.
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a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz had previously said the firm was nonpartisan, and one issue voters. “If a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future, we are for them. If they want to choke off important technologies, we are against them,” he said. The firm’s in-house lobbying team is tasked with influencing lawmakers on a wide range of matters, from digital-asset regulation, stablecoins, and AI. Defense made its first explicit appearance in a16z’s third quarter report from 2023, which added the National Defense Authorization Act as a specific lobbying issue.
While founders Marc Andreessen and Horowitz had backed President Donald Trump during the 2024 election, the in-house policy team is bipartisan, with government affairs leaders recruited from both sides. The rise in lobbying comes as a16z is making a more aggressive push into regulated industries like defense and the industrial base, and booming new technologies like artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, the firm is also bringing on in-house policy talent. Last week, former deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger joined as a senior advisor focused on “American Dynamism, AI, and cyber,” Horowitz said on X.
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The amount spent on lobbying, however, doesn’t always translate into influence. Founders Fund, for instance, reports little to no federal lobbying, yet its network holds outsized sway in the Pentagon and the White House. Partner Trae Stephens helped lead the 2016 Department of Defense transition and was floated in 2024 for Deputy Secretary of Defense, while Michael Kratsios—a longtime Thiel Capital aide—served as Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in 2020 and now serves as the President’s science advisor.
Aside from lobbying, VC firms also exert their influence through political action committees (PACs). a16z is among Silicon Valley veterans putting in more than $100 million into a network of political action committees (PACs) that will advocate against strict AI regulations in next year’s midterm elections, according to the Wall Street Journal. This new pro-AI PAC network called “leading the future” aims to use campaign donations and digital ads to advocate for favorable AI regulation and oppose candidates that the group thinks will stifle the industry.
Earlier, a16z, along with OpenAI and other companies, was part of a push to implement a 10-year freeze on states’ rights to create their own AI regulations.