Meta once again outspent its Big Tech counterparts in lobbying, but dropped far less cash than last quarter — $5.8 million compared to Q1's $8 million.

Why it matters: Both Big Tech and leading AI companies spent big in Congress this quarter as tech issues infiltrated everything from trade agreements to reconciliation.

By the numbers: Meta, Amazon and Google were the biggest tech lobbying spenders again this quarter, at $5.8 million, $4.5 million and $3.2 million, respectively, per federal filings.

• Meta lobbied on misinformation, spectrum, intermediary liability, digital trade, AI, kids' online safety, and more.
• Amazon lobbied on Section 230, satellite communications, AI, music licensing, taxes, fraud, trade and telehealth.
• Google lobbied on online advertising, AI, piracy, kids' online privacy, research & development, digital trade and European competition policy.

ByteDance, still holding onto TikTok in the U.S., lobbied on the sale-or-ban law threatening its existence, platform and content moderation, and kids' online safety.

Apple lobbied on competition bills like the Open App Markets Act, among a host of other issues.

As the debate over copyright and AI heats up, the Motion Picture Association spent $690,000 this quarter to lobby on topics including AI, kids' online safety bills, age verification, piracy and streaming, copyright and digital trade.

• The Recording Industry Association of America spent $1.9 million lobbying on copyright, AI, intellectual property and trade agreements.
• Both MPA and RIAA lobbied specifically on the NO FAKES Act, which would hold people and companies liable for distributing or knowingly hosting unauthorized digital replicas.

AI companies are nearing the $1 million mark, as we've been monitoring, signaling high stakes policy debates in Washington and a growing ability among startups to influence lawmakers.

• Anthropic, which spent $910,000 in Q2 compared to $360,000 last quarter, lobbied on AI provisions in the reconciliation bill, U.S.-China competition, and export controls.
• OpenAI's for-profit entity spent $620,000, compared to $560,000 last quarter, on topics including AI and copyright. Its nonprofit arm, which remains in control of OpenAI and its tech, spent $150,000 on AI R&D.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) spent $790,000 compared to $650,000 last quarter. Its filing includes digital assets and anti-money laundering proposals.

What we're watching: NVIDIA is securing major wins in Washington despite spending less and making more than other tech giants.

• The company, recently valued at a whopping $4 trillion, spent $620,000 in Q2. It spent $940,000 in Q1.

✈️ AI prices: Three Democratic senators wrote to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian yesterday to raise concerns about company plans to use AI to set individualized fares, which the airline maintains won't target customers with offers based on personal details, our Axios colleague Rebecca Falconer reports.

✍️ Chips critique: House China Select Committee Chair John Moolenaar sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick objecting to allowing Nvidia to sell its H20 chips to China.

🇬🇧 U.K. deal: The U.K. and OpenAI have signed a new strategic partnership to boost AI security research and infrastructure, Reuters reported.

🇩🇰 Quantum cash: "Denmark announces €80 million quantum computing initiative," per Science|Business.

🗣️ FTC update: An appeals court yesterday temporarily blocked Rebecca Slaughter's reinstatement to the FTC, with Slaughter saying in a statement today that she'll keep up her legal battle.

• "I'll continue to fight my illegal firing and see this case through, because part of why Congress created independent agencies is to ensure transparency and accountability."
• "They didn't want regulators doing shady, backroom deals without the people finding out, and I'm ready to uncover the ways the FTC is failing consumers and its duty to protect competition."