Overnight Tech: Uber, AT&T beef up lobbying | Pai is new FCC chairman | Skype coming to WH briefings | iPhone maker floats $7B US factory

LOBBYING NUMBERS RELEASED: Uber and AT&T were two of the tech and telecom companies to spend big in the last three months of 2016 on lobbying. New figures disclosed spending the last three months of 2016 and provided insight into the year’s big movers.

As The Hill’s Melanie Zanona reported, Uber nearly tripled its spending on lobbying lawmakers from 2015 to 2016.

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AT&T’s lobbying expenditures also surged by $1.5 million last year as it unveiled its proposed merger with Time Warner, a deal that is valued at $85 billion. The merger has attracted critics from both parties, including President Trump. There’s more on AT&T’s lobbying below.

Here are the numbers for some other top tech and telecom giants:

 

Google

2015: $16,660,000

2016: $15,430,000

 

Uber

2015: $470,000

2016: $1,360,000

 

Twitter

2015: $500,000

2016: $680,000

 

Facebook

2015: $9,850,000

2016: $8,692,000

 

AT&T

2015: $14,860,000

2016: $16,370,000

 

Apple

2015: $4,520,000

2016: $4,670,000

 

Verizon

2015: $11,430,000

2016: $10,080,000

 

Please send your tips, comments and constructive criticism to Ali Breland (abreland@digital-staging.thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@digital-staging.thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland, @hneidig  and @HilliconValley.

 

TRUMP MAKES IT OFFICIAL WITH PAI AS FCC CHAIR: Trump officially designated Ajit Pai as chairman of the FCC on Monday. Pai confirmed the move in a statement, saying he was “deeply grateful” to Trump for the opportunity.

The Hill reported Friday that Trump was preparing to make the move, citing industry sources.

that industry sources had been expecting the announcement. Pai is a favorite among Republicans and the telecom industry for his deregulatory philosophy. He is widely expected to hit the ground running to try and undo many of the signature achievements of his predecessor, former Chairman Tom Wheeler.

High on his list: net neutrality, which Pai intends to revisit and possibly scale back.

For more on Pai’s selection and the reaction, click here.

 

IPHONE MANUFACTURER FLOATS U.S. FACTORY: Cell phone manufacturer Foxconn is reportedly mulling a plan to open a $7 billion display screen factory in the U.S. According to Reuters, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou told reporters at a company event on Sunday that the iPhone manufacturer had been considering the move for years, and that SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son had recommended moving forward with it ahead of his meeting with President Trump during the transition.

 

A SKYPE DATE WITH SEAN SPICER: White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced that four “Skype” seats will be created for reporters to video call into White House press briefings. The rotating seats will be available to reporters 50 plus miles from Washington, D.C., according to Spicer.  

 

AT&T BEEFS UP LOBBYING: AT&T spent more money on lobbying during 2016 in the midst of its proposed merger with Time Warner than it has since 2012. The telecommunications company spent $16,370,000 in 2016, almost $2 million more than the $14,860,000 AT&T spent on lobbying in 2015. Time Warner has not yet released its fourth quarter data on lobbying spending. However, in the first three quarters of 2016, the company had slightly increased its lobbying expenses from $2,026,000 in the first three quarters of 2015 to $2,187,000 in 2016. The media conglomerate did not list issues related to the merger as the cause of its 2016 spending in the first three quarters.

Read more here.

 

NEW FTC REPORT ON CROSS-DEVICE TRACKING: The Federal Trade Commission released a new report today describing how technology can be used to track consumers across various devices connected to the internet. The report makes note of self-regulated industry efforts to curb this practice but noted that consumers often have little choice in opting out or blocking this type of tracking.

 

CHAN ZUCKERBERG SNAGS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STARTUP: Chan Zuckerberg, the philanthropic LLC started by the Facebook founder and his wife Priscilla Chan, acquired Meta, according to an announcement on the group’s Facebook page. The announcement described Meta as an “AI that helps scientists read, understand and prioritize millions of scientific papers.”

“Meta uses artificial intelligence to analyze and connect insights across millions of papers. It seeks out the most relevant or impactful studies in a scientific area the moment they are published, and finds patterns in the literature on a scale that no human being could accomplish alone,” the post reads. “We will be working to make Meta even more powerful and useful for the entire scientific community, and are committed to offering these tools and features for free to all researchers.”

 

ON TAP:

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold its first markup of the year at 10:15 a.m. The panel will take a look at a number of tech bills, including Chairman John Thune’s MOBILE Now Act, a bill aimed at freeing up more wireless spectrum for commercial use.

New America will host a panel discussion on the future of the internet’s governance at noon.

Also at noon, the National Association of Broadcasters holds its Capital Assets Conference.

House Energy and Commerce Committee holds an organizational meeting at 1 p.m.

Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will speak at Harvard at 4 p.m.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Busy with balls, the women’s march and conference championships? We’ve got you.

Mark Zuckerberg running for president in 2020? Experts think there’s a chance.

Donald Trump is president now. Here’s what he’s got tech worried about.

The Department of the Interior’s Twitter access was shut down and then reactivated this weekend.

The SEC is investigating Yahoo over a massive data breach.