Throughout the year, our policy team submits filings with government bodies worldwide to advocate for a regulatory environment that inspires and rewards innovation. From issues around regulating artificial intelligence to digital trade, our team is ACTive on a wide range of topics that could have a positive or negative impact on our small business members driving the app economy. Below is a roundup of our filings from around the globe this past month.
Entity: Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters
Jurisdiction: Japan
Summary: ACT submitted comments to the government of Japan to assist in its formulation of the Intellectual Property Promotion Plan 2026. ACT advised that Japan avoid de facto erosion of IP protections through artificial intelligence (AI)-specific measures, strengthen private sector participation and inclusivity in international standardization, safeguard open standards through balanced IP practices, and promote data distribution and utilization.
Filed: January 7, 2026
Title: Written Evidence Submitted by ACT | The App Association on AI Growth Lab: Call for Evidence
Entity: Department for Science, Innovation, & Technology
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Summary: ACT submitted comments in response to UK DSIT’s call for evidence for its proposed AI Growth Lab. ACT urged policymakers to keep in mind that AI is not a standalone sector but a technology that cuts across regulated domains, that risk-based and outcome-focused governance is essential, that regulatory flexibility should reduce friction rather than relocate it, and that small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) require predictability and accessibility. ACT also provided specific answers to the Departments’ provided questions.
Filed: January 7, 2026
Entity: European Commission
Jurisdiction: European Union
Summary: ACT provided feedback on the EU’s Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030, highlighting current challenges for SMEs and startups, including data access, fragmented implementation of digital rules, and access to finance and capital. ACT recommended new or reinforced Digital Decade goals, including enabling startup growth through AI and regulatory sandboxes, improving predictability in the functioning of the single market, and improving access to funding and capital.
Filed: January 9, 2026
Entity: Department of Energy
Jurisdiction: United States
Summary: ACT responded to the Department of Energy’s request for information on partnerships for transformational AI models. ACT provided policy recommendations for data access and governance, access to AI models and infrastructure, intellectual property, and research, technology, and economic security.
Filed: January 14, 2026
Entity: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
Jurisdiction: Australia
Summary: ACT submitted comments to ACCC in response to their consideration of Google and Epic Games’ global settlement’s adequacy under Australian competition law. ACT provided general views on digital competition platform policy, highlighting how small app developers benefit greatly from certain services that large platforms provide, urging ACCC not to adopt harmful proposals that treat apps as products on a shelf instead of businesses in their own right, and stressing the importance of rigorous economic analysis rather than basing competition enforcement on hypotheticals or edge cases.
Filed: January 16, 2026
Title: Request for Information on the National Science Foundation Tech Labs Initiative
Entity: National Science Foundation
Jurisdiction: United States
Summary: ACT responded to NSF’s request for information on the Tech Labs Initiative, which would pursue innovation through a team-based, outcomes-driven model. ACT advised that SMEs should be included by design, that requirements should allow for modularity across technology and participation, that speed and predictability should be core policy goals, that intellectual property should be protected, and that oversight should be risk-based.
Filed: January 20, 2026
Entity: Federal Communications Commission
Jurisdiction: United States
Summary: ACT submitted comments to FCC in response to its rulemaking proceeding regarding the “Next Generation” standard for broadcast television (ATSC 3.0). ACT urged the Commission to ensure that ATSC 3.0 standard-essential patents (SEPs) are licensed on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, and to provide clarification on FRAND to remedy ambiguities and prevent abuse.
Filed: January 20, 2026
Entity: House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology
Jurisdiction: United States
Summary: ACT submitted a statement for the record to the House Science Committee Research and Technology Subcommittee for its hearing entitled, “Advancing America’s AI Action Plan.” The statement provided the Subcommittee with recommendations for implementing the Administration’s AI Action Plan through coordination rather than fragmentation, for establishing risk-based governance and voluntary standards, and for clarifying roles and shared responsibility across the AI value chain.
Filed: January 23, 2026
Entity: House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Trade
Jurisdiction: United States
Summary: ACT submitted a statement for the record for the House Ways and Means Committee Trade Subcommittee hearing entitled, “The Role of Trade Policy in Maintaining American Innovation and Technology Leadership.” ACT’s testimony detailed the association’s digital trade priorities, key intellectual property policies and standards policies for small business, the chilling effects of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the perils of importing DMA-like regulation to the U.S. via proposed bills like the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
Filed: January 27, 2026
Entity: Canadian Competition Bureau
Jurisdiction: Canada
Summary: ACT submitted comments to CCB in response to its proposed guidelines on anti-competitive conduct and agreements enforcement. ACT provided an in-depth white paper on the state of, and how to improve, competition in digitally-driven markets, discussing how small app developers benefit greatly from certain services that large platforms provide and stressing the importance of rigorous economic analysis rather than basing competition enforcement on hypotheticals or edge cases.
Filed: January 29, 2026