New AI lobbying group aims to keep agent tech open and competitive

A new AI industry group called the Agentic Futures Initiative has formed to educate lawmakers about AI agents, featuring members like Anthropic and Intuit. The lobbying effort aims to ensure AI agent technology remains interoperable, secure, and private as the sector rapidly develops, with major implications for how open the ecosystem remains to competitors.

What you should know: The initiative addresses what organizers see as a critical knowledge gap among policymakers about AI agents during what’s been dubbed “the year of AI agents.”

• Ryan Dattilo, partner of Aquia Group (the lobbying firm organizing the effort), described the situation as “a massive void” requiring more organized coordination.
• The group includes both AI startups like Anthropic and established companies like Intuit, representing diverse industry perspectives.

How AI agents work: Agentic AI describes systems that can take autonomous action on behalf of users, but implementation creates complex technical challenges.

• Simple tasks like booking airline tickets require AI agents to navigate web browsers and access multiple application programming interfaces (APIs) across different platforms.
• These interconnections create significant security and privacy vulnerabilities that need regulatory attention.
• The technical complexity also creates opportunities for companies to build anticompetitive “walled gardens” similar to app stores and operating systems.

In plain English: AI agents are like digital assistants that can actually do things for you, not just answer questions. To book a flight, an AI agent would need to jump between different websites and software systems, much like you would when comparing prices and making a reservation. Each connection between systems creates potential security risks and gives companies opportunities to block competitors from accessing their platforms.

The big picture: Industry leaders want AI agents to develop along open standards rather than closed proprietary systems.

• Matt Boulos, head of policy and safety for founding member Imbue, hopes to see agentic AI develop common protocols similar to the early web.
• Such protocols would enable innovation from “tiny startups to massive tech companies” while allowing all players to add value to the ecosystem.
• The lobbying effort reflects growing industry concern about maintaining competitive access as AI agents become more commercially important.

Why this matters: How policymakers regulate AI agents will determine whether the technology develops as an open, competitive ecosystem or becomes dominated by a few large platforms that can lock in users and exclude competitors.