This is the first time the firm has used its own registered lobbyists; it had previously hired third parties. The company has built a 13-person team in the U.S. capital. Among other issues, SoftBank lobbied on autonomous vehicles, fintech, artificial intelligence, privacy and data, as well as the merger of its wireless carrier Sprint with T-Mobile. (The Information)

Talking point: SoftBank’s lobbying is minor compared to Facebook and Amazon, which spent about US$4 million each this quarter. Its subsidiary Sprint spent more, at US$740,000. Lobbying increases by the Japanese holding company and its U.S. carrier have increased when Sprint is in major deal talks. In 2014, SoftBank’s most expensive year at over US$4.2 million, more than 70 per cent of its lobbying spend was for Sprint. The telecom had tried and failed to acquire T-Mobile that year. The impending merger is crucial for SoftBank. Sprint has US$39 billion in debt, and has said it would face “serious challenges” if the deal doesn’t go through. According to CNBC, the merger could be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice as soon as Wednesday.