Congress's Favorite AI Tool? ChatGPT
According to a CNBC report, U.S. House offices and committees spent the bulk of their AI tool budget on OpenAI's ChatGPT, which received about 90% of all such spending over the year ending March 31.
Offices, committees, and institutional accounts in the U.S. House of Representatives spent at least $113,740 on artificial intelligence tools over the year ending March 31, with the vast majority of that money going to OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT chatbot.
An analysis of House disbursement records by CNBC found that a total of 798 transactions involved ChatGPT, for a combined outlay of roughly $100,580. Anthropic's Claude ranked second, with 37 transactions worth $13,160.
The spending data also shows a partisan split: Democratic offices purchased $54,165 worth of AI tools, approximately three times the $15,782 spent by Republican offices.
It's important to note that these figures exclude any AI adoption through free accounts or AI tools bundled into broader software contracts.
Congressional staffers are reportedly using ChatGPT and similar technologies to write memos, summarize and analyze legislation, respond to constituents, prepare hearing materials, sort through policy research, and even draft social media posts. This highlights how AI has become a regular part of the legislative workflow.
