Warren Asks Four Tech Giants to Detail AI Tax Deductions and Lobbying

The tax treatment of AI buildouts is now in the Senate’s sights. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith and Jeff Merkley sent letters to the CEOs of Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft seeking details on AI and data-center tax deductions. They also asked about lobbying before a 2025 tax law passed and requested answers by Oct. 12.

A question about spending, not just tax bills

The senators want to know what deductions each company claimed for AI and data-center development under the tax and spending package passed in 2025. They argue that the law subsidizes AI growth at a time when Americans worry about rising utility bills, job losses and cyberattacks. The letters seek company-specific answers to that argument.

Their letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg points to $72 billion in capital expenditures last year. The senators say the “vast majority” went to data centers and other AI spending, and suggest much of it may have qualified for immediate deductions. They have not identified a total that Meta actually deducted.

The other declines use different measures

The letters cite declines at the other companies, too. Microsoft’s current federal income tax expense fell by more than $11 billion from fiscal 2025 to fiscal 2026. Amazon’s federal income tax payment fell by nearly $8 billion from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025. Alphabet’s combined current federal and state income tax expense fell by more than $7 billion over that latter period.

Those figures mix payments with tax expense, and Alphabet’s includes state tax. None establishes how much of a decline came from AI-related deductions. That distinction is central to the inquiry: the senators are asking about deductions claimed, not simply comparing tax bills.

Why the letters ask about lobbying

The senators say each company contributed $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inauguration and spent millions lobbying Congress and federal agencies before the tax package passed. In the Meta letter, they suggest the company’s political spending is paying off. That is an allegation, not a finding that the spending secured a tax provision.

Spokespeople for the four companies and the White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. The requested Oct. 12 responses could give the senators a fuller picture of both the companies’ deductions and their efforts to influence the law.

The wider tax backdrop

The questions arrive as federal corporate tax receipts are expected to fall. In February, the Congressional Budget Office projected a 10.6% decline in corporate income tax collections in 2026, from $452 billion to $404 billion. That is a forecast for all corporate income taxes, not a measure of benefits received by the four companies.