Sam Altman's ChatGPT has become Congress's preferred AI tool, and the spending records prove it.
According to TechCrunch's report on House disbursement data, OpenAI's chatbot accounted for roughly 90% of all paid AI tool spending across Capitol Hill during the year ending March 31. Congress spent around $100,580 on ChatGPT across 798 transactions—far more than Anthropic's Claude, which came second with $13,160 across 37 purchases.
Democratic offices spent three times as much on AI tools as Republican offices, burning through $54,165 versus $15,782. The partisan spending gap reflects divergent approaches to AI infrastructure on the Hill.
Staffers are using ChatGPT to draft memos, summarize legislation, respond to constituent emails, prep hearing materials, research policy, and script social media posts. The chatbot has become Congress's ghost-writing tool.
This spending explosion reveals a fundamental tension in American tech governance. Lawmakers are simultaneously drafting AI regulation bills while funding the exact companies they are scrutinizing. OpenAI owns such an overwhelming chunk of Capitol Hill's AI budget that Sam Altman does not just have a seat at the policy table; he shapes what happens at it.
It's not illegal, and it's not unusual—every tech company with Washington ambitions cultivates favorable relationships with politicians. But when Congress relies this heavily on one company's product to write laws and communicate with voters, the conflicts become apparent. What happens when the same tool that drafted a memo ends up being regulated by that memo's author?
These spending records exclude free tier usage and bundled AI features in larger software contracts. The actual number could be significantly higher—meaning ChatGPT's presence on Capitol Hill is likely even more dominant than the headlines suggest.
