Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
The American Innovators Network — a coalition of AI startups and entrepreneurs looking to have a louder voice in Washington policy debates — launched Wednesday, the group told Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Smaller companies are looking to take advantage of the upheaval around tech policy and AI development under President Trump, and to ensure Big Tech incumbents aren't the strongest players in the debate.
Driving the news: Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator, along with AI companies including Anyscale, Exowatt, and Sourcegraph, want their new alliance to "represent America's Little Tech ecosystem leading the next era of innovation and economic growth."
Vanessa Day, former senior adviser to Paul Ryan and a vice president at Targeted Victory, will be executive director of the American Innovators Network. The group will be registered to lobby.
- Per the group's announcement, it's aiming for "policies that harness AI's potential, prioritize American competitiveness, and allow Little Tech to flourish and succeed with a fair shot to compete on a level playing field."
- The portfolio will include both state and federal policy.
What they're saying: "Andreessen Horowitz is on the side of Little Tech," said Collin McCune, a16z's head of government affairs. "For too long, startups and entrepreneurs have been shut out of the rooms where innovation policy gets made."
- "Six or so huge companies can't be the ones dictating policies in Washington and statehouses across the country. Little Tech needs a seat at the table," said Luther Lowe, head of public policy for Y Combinator.
Flashback: Lowe is a longtime Big Tech gadfly who pushed for antitrust action against Google for years in his previous role at Yelp.
AI policy is engulfing much of the tech conversation in Washington, but smaller companies have long felt they were boxed out by the biggest companies on everything from app store rules and fees to having to compete with firms selling products on their own platforms.
- That tension is being carried into AI debates as the Trump administration starts to sketch out its tech policy positions.
The big picture: Earlier moves by the Biden administration to regulate AI involved conversations with the biggest players, and some smaller companies felt they missed out on being part of the conversation.
- Venture capital billionaires Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz both donated to his re-election campaign and said last July the Biden administration's moves in areas like AI and crypto had benefited incumbents at the expense of startups.
- Now, startup incubators want to throw their weight around in Washington early in Trump's second term.
