THE TECH MONEY FUNDING KEY AI POLICY WONKS: “An organization backed by Silicon Valley billionaires and tied to leading artificial intelligence firms is funding the salaries of more than a dozen AI fellows in key congressional offices, across federal agencies and at influential think tanks,†our Brendan Bordelon reports. — “The fellows funded by Open Philanthropy, which is financed primarily by billionaire Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, are already involved in negotiations that will shape Capitol Hill’s accelerating plans to regulate AI.†— “And they’re closely tied to a powerful influence network that’s pushing Washington to focus on the technology’s long-term risks — a focus critics fear will divert Congress from more immediate rules that would tie the hands of tech firms.†— “Acting through the little-known Horizon Institute for Public Service, a nonprofit that Open Philanthropy effectively created in 2022, the group is funding the salaries of tech fellows in key Senate offices, according to documents and interviews.†— “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s top three lieutenants on AI legislation — Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) — each have a Horizon fellow working on AI or biosecurity, a closely related issue. The office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a powerful member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who recently unveiled plans for an AI licensing regime, includes a Horizon AI fellow who worked at OpenAI immediately before coming to Congress, according to his bio on Horizon’s web site.†— “Current and former Horizon AI fellows with salaries funded by Open Philanthropy are now working at the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, as well as in the House Science Committee and Senate Commerce Committee … They also populate key think tanks shaping AI policy, including the RAND Corporation and Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, according to the Horizon website.†CRYPTO’S LATEST HEADACHE: “Washington’s cryptocurrency lobby is scrambling to contain a Hamas problem that’s about to become an Elizabeth Warren problem,†POLITICO’s Jasper Goodman writes. — “Last week’s massacre in Israel has painted a big target on crypto, thanks to reports that militant groups including Hamas recently received financing via digital currencies. It comes as the industry is already trying to bat down daily headlines from the fraud trial of former crypto magnate Sam Bankman-Fried.†— “Capitol Hill scrutiny is about to ramp up. Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) — one of the industry’s fiercest critics — is vowing to use his committee to examine the role crypto played in the Israel attacks. The Hamas connection is also giving fresh momentum to a push by Warren to pass a bill that would impose new anti-money laundering rules on crypto — an increasingly bipartisan effort that digital asset firms have tried to quash.†— “While crypto’s use by Israel’s attackers is still being understood, the linkage is shaping up to be the latest in a series of political liabilities incurred since last year’s market meltdown and arrest of Bankman-Fried,†and crypto backers are rushing to get ahead of the controversy, which comes with the House on the brink of passing industry-supported legislation. NEW BUSINESS: The Recording Industry Association of America has picked up Salt Point Strategies, the firm founded by former NTIA Administrator David Redl, according to overdue disclosures filed this week. — Salt Point began working for the music lobby back in March, and those on the account include Redl, Jared Weaver, a former deputy chief to House Energy & Commerce member Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), and Jerry Leverich, another former Eshoo aide and former counsel for the E&C telecom subcommittee. — PayPal added to its cast of outside lobbyists as well, retaining Franklin Square Group last month to lobby on mobile payment, cybersecurity and small-business lending issues. The firm will also work on tax issues, including PayPal and other online marketplace and payment processors’ fight against new 1099-K reporting requirements included in President Joe Biden’s first Covid relief bill.
ANNALS OF FUNDRAISING: “The messy race to elect the next Republican speaker of the House of Representatives is injecting chaos into the typically genteel world of high-dollar GOP fundraising, threatening to disrupt a vital element of the Republican strategy to maintain its House majority,†per CNBC’s Brian Schwartz.
— “One faction of wealthy donors is intent on exacting revenge on the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to oust former speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to people familiar with the matter,†while another “group of financiers want to take on Republicans who opposed the top candidate to replace McCarthy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, these people explained.†— “‘If you have scheduled a fundraiser for any Republican House member who refuses to vote for Scalise, cancel it. If you are thinking of donating, don’t,’ wrote attorney and GOP donor Eric Levine Thursday to his email list of approximately 1,500 people before Scalise dropped out.†— “The head of the litigation and bankruptcy department at Eiseman Levine, a New York firm, Levine told CNBC those who responded agreed to hold off on raising money for lawmakers who had opposed Scalise.â€
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