OpenAI's ChatGPT has emerged as the dominant AI tool in Congress, accounting for the vast majority of spending on AI services by House offices, according to a recent report from CNBC. The data, drawn from House disbursement records, covers the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026.
During this period, OpenAI received approximately 90% of all AI tool expenditures by House offices, committees, and institutional accounts. Congress spent roughly $100,580 on ChatGPT across 798 transactions, out of at least $113,740 in total AI spending. Anthropic's Claude followed in second place, with $13,160 spent across 37 transactions.
Notably, Democratic offices led the adoption, spending $54,165 on AI tools—more than three times the $15,782 spent by Republican offices. This disparity may reflect differing priorities or approaches to integrating AI into legislative workflows.
The report's figures exclude AI usage through free accounts or tools bundled into broader software contracts, meaning actual congressional adoption is likely higher than the spending data suggests. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in legislative processes, these tools are being used for a wide range of tasks, including writing memos, summarizing and analyzing legislation, responding to constituents, preparing hearing materials, conducting policy research, and drafting social media posts.
Looking ahead to 2026, Congress is expected to further integrate AI tools into daily operations, with potential expansions in training programs and policy frameworks to govern their use. The significant lead by OpenAI highlights the competitive landscape as other providers, such as Anthropic, seek to gain traction in the government sector.
via TechCrunch AI