OpenAI is dominating the first visible wave of artificial intelligence spending inside the U.S. Congress. The maker of ChatGPT accounted for roughly $9 of every $10 spent on identifiable AI tools by House offices, committees and institutional accounts during the year ending March 31, according to a CNBC analysis of House disbursement records.
CNBC identified at least $113,740 in spending on named AI vendors between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. ChatGPT accounted for $100,580 of that total across 798 transactions — about 88% of the dollars and 96% of the transactions reviewed. Anthropic's Claude, ChatGPT's closest chatbot rival, was a distant second, totaling $13,160 across 37 transactions. At least 70 House offices used identifiable AI tools — at least a sixth of member offices — with Democratic offices outspending Republican offices by more than three to one ($54,165 vs. $15,782).
Congressional staffers use the tools to summarize legislation, draft memos, prepare hearing materials and respond to constituents. The figures almost certainly understate total use: free accounts, AI bundled into broader software contracts such as Microsoft Copilot, and almost all Senate use are excluded. The Senate does not allow Claude for official use, according to chamber rules.
OpenAI has also built a head start and an influence pipeline: $1 million in federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2026 (up 82.5% from a year earlier), a training partnership with the Congressional Management Foundation, and a first-mover advantage from the House's first ChatGPT Plus pilot in 2023. Watchdogs caution that taxpayer dollars should fund the best tools — not political favorites — as lawmakers decide how the industry is bought, used and regulated.
