Samsung Electronics is broadening its Washington lobbying efforts to cover artificial intelligence deployment, power grid modernization, and 6G alongside semiconductor subsidies.

Samsung Electronics is shifting the center of gravity of its U.S. lobbying efforts from traditional semiconductor subsidies and trade toward next-generation growth areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), data center power grids, sixth-generation (6G) mobile communications, and intellectual property (IP). According to a lobbying activity report filed with the U.S. Congress by Samsung Electronics America (SEA) on the 23rd, the South Korean tech giant has been rapidly expanding its AI-related policy agenda. In its second-quarter manufacturing sector disclosures, Samsung newly listed “power grid and energy legislation affecting data centers.” While previous lobbying had centered on U.S. investment, implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), data center power-related initiatives were formally added starting in the second quarter.

Intellectual property also emerged as a new lobbying focus in the same quarter. Samsung registered “IP policy, including litigation funding transparency” as a separate agenda item and identified the Senate, House of Representatives, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) as key contact agencies. In the telecommunications sector, where lobbying previously focused on 5G, spectrum, and wireless broadband, “6G” was added to the portfolio starting in the fourth quarter of last year. Through the first and second quarters of this year, both 5G and 6G have been listed together as policy response targets. Consequently, Samsung’s U.S. lobbying agenda has grown increasingly granular, extending well beyond semiconductor support and trade response.

The company’s strategic pivot began early last year, immediately following the launch of the second Donald Trump administration, when Samsung concentrated its lobbying firepower on semiconductor supply chain issues. Around mid-last year, as generative AI services like ChatGPT gained serious traction, Samsung redirected resources toward AI research and development (R&D) and 6G. This year, data center power constraints have moved to the forefront. As the U.S. government accelerates AI industry promotion policies, Samsung has raised its response level accordingly. For example, after the White House unveiled its “American AI Action Plan” in July last year, Samsung began managing AI-related policy as a distinct lobbying agenda item starting in the fourth quarter of that year. Analysts note that as AI infrastructure investment accelerates across the United States, Samsung’s government affairs strategy is expanding beyond “semiconductor factories” to encompass the broader AI ecosystem.

Despite the broadened policy scope, lobbying expenditures actually contracted. Cumulative spending for the first half of this year totaled $2.66 million (approximately 3.7 billion won), representing a 7.0% decline from $2.86 million (approximately 4.0 billion won) in the same period last year. Second-quarter spending came to $1.18 million (approximately 1.6 billion won), down 8.5% from $1.29 million (approximately 1.8 billion won) a year earlier. First-quarter spending of $1.48 million (approximately 2.1 billion won) marked a 5.7% decrease from $1.57 million (approximately 2.2 billion won) in the prior-year period. Industry analysts attribute this reduction to base effects stemming from last year’s heightened policy uncertainty. In April of last year, the Trump administration unveiled plans to impose a 10% baseline tariff on most imports alongside country-specific reciprocal tariffs, triggering a dramatic shift in global trade policy and driving major corporations’ lobbying expenditures to record highs. With policy uncertainty relatively eased this year, lobbying costs have declined, though responses to core industrial policies remain uninterrupted.

Existing industrial policy responses—including the CHIPS and Science Act, supply chain management, and tax matters—have transitioned into permanent operational priorities. Samsung lists CHIPS Act implementation, U.S. investment, and supply chain resilience as key quarterly lobbying agenda items and has continuously managed the semiconductor investment tax credit known as “48D” since last year. Commenting on the trend, an industry source stated: “As the U.S. government's policy focus rapidly expands from semiconductor supply chains and trade to AI infrastructure, power, and next-generation communications, corporate government affairs activities inevitably have to become more granular to match.”