Now that the Senate has put out its AI report, the real influence game on the Hill is beginning as work on bills kicks off in earnest, Ashley writes in her column this week.

The big picture: The biggest tech companies fueling the generative AI boom have been shaping conversations on the technology in Congress for years, but now other parts of Silicon Valley are looking to catch up.

Driving the news: Groups representing "smaller" tech and open-source AI companies don't want to be left behind, and they have big Capitol Hill plans in the coming weeks.

• Y Combinator and Andreessen Horowitz are stepping up their visits to lawmakers' offices and making the rounds in Washington to push for their priorities, the companies tell Ashley.

This week in Washington, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan will speak at the Economic Club, host a reception with D.C.-area Y Combinator founders and hold a number of Capitol Hill meetings.

• The company wants to promote remedies to increase tech competition for smaller players to enter the market, and AI policy that promotes open source and forces bigger firms to be interoperable.
• Startups are a massive force in AI development, Y Combinator plans to argue to lawmakers, with critical perspectives on regulation and other issues.

VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is also increasing its Washington presence, publishing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week saying that the biggest AI companies are unduly influencing regulators and leaving smaller companies out.

• "Large companies are vying to control nascent technologies through regulation," a16z general partners Martin Casado and Katherine Boyle wrote, arguing a new Department of Homeland Security board on AI safety and security is disproportionately staffed by representatives of the biggest current leading AI companies.
• Beyond that specific complaint, a16z is stepping up its Capitol Hill game too, said Collin McCune, the firm's head of government affairs.
• AI is reaching every corner of the federal government between individual agency work and Capitol Hill, he said, so a16z wants to "touch all of those different corners to be able to understand where they're headed, and also what our perspective is from a little-tech point of view."

On the Senate's bipartisan AI roadmap, a16z's biggest disappointment, McCune said, was the fact that there was "little focus on the permissibility of open-source AI, which is a huge cornerstone of what we have been fighting for from a policy perspective."

What we're watching: "We're meeting with every corner of Capitol Hill," including both House and Senate leaders, McCune said.

• A16z is not pushing for any specific legislation yet, he said, but the company might get more specific in the coming months.

The bipartisan Senate AI roadmap is merely a commitment to spend taxpayer money on "innovation" without laying out how it will help or protect people, according to a new report from public interest, academic and tech accountability groups shared first with Ashley.

The big picture: The so-called shadow report says innovation has to be shaped by regulation and democratic accountability to serve the public and prevent further consolidation of tech industry power.

• Groups involved include Accountable Tech, AI Now, the Center for AI and Digital Policy, Epic, Friends of the Earth, Open Markets, Surveillance Resistance Lab and OpenMarkets.
• A bipartisan group of senators led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled its sweeping report last week detailing how Congress should regulate AI.

What they're saying: "We intend for this to serve as a reminder to lawmakers that any legislative process that begins with industry in the driver's seat is fated not only to fail the public interest, but even to exacerbate AI's ongoing harms," the shadow report's authors write.

• "Any future efforts to develop a legislative roadmap to regulate AI must begin with consulting civil society voices and designate meaningful power to those representing impacted communities."

The report calls for the Senate to pass enforceable laws addressing a number of topics on AI, including:

• racial justice and equality
• immigration
• labor
• privacy and surveillance
• poverty
• climate change.

Read the whole report here.

Here are the tech policy hearings lawmakers are squeezing in before recess.

1. Section 230: As we reported first last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a legislative hearing Wednesday at 10am ET to examine Section 230 legislation.

• The new proposal from E&C Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Ranking Member Frank Pallone gives lawmakers and outside groups a deadline of Dec. 31, 2025, to rework tech's liability shield or face its elimination.
• The committee plans to follow regular order on the bill, with a subcommittee markup and full committee markup following this hearing.

2. IDC markup: The E&C subcommittee on innovation, data and commerce holds a markup Thursday, with the time and legislative list still TBD.

• Sources previously told us the American Privacy Rights Act is likely on the agenda.

3. Export controls: The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday at 9am ET marks up legislation including the ENFORCE Act, which would give Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security authority to use export controls on AI and other emerging tech.

• The markup was delayed to this week because of some last-minute negotiations on the bill with the White House, according to HFAC spokesperson Leslie Shedd.

4. Homeland AI: An hour later, the House Homeland Security Committee meets for a hearing titled "Advancing Innovation (AI): Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Defend and Secure the Homeland."

5. NDAA time: The House Armed Services Committee holds a marathon markup for its version of the National Defense Authorization Act starting Wednesday at 10am ET.

• The annual must-pass defense policy bill could provide a vehicle to move some AI legislation and quantum policy across the finish line.

6. NSF approps: The Senate Appropriations commerce, justice and science panel meets Thursday at 9:30am ET for a hearing to examine both the National Science Foundation and NASA's FY25 budget proposals.

7. NIST roadmap: On Wednesday at 10am ET, House Science convenes for a look at NIST's priorities for 2025 and beyond.

• Expect to hear a lot about NIST's budget and massive maintenance backlog even as the agency gets tasked with more work from both the CHIPS Act and President Biden's AI executive order.