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Joshua F. Gruenspecht
Partner
National Security and Trade
Washington, D.C.

D202-973-8817

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  • Substantial CFIUS and National Security Experience

    A foreign investment practitioner for more than a decade, Joshua has been involved in thousands of CFIUS matters and hundreds of filed cases. He regularly helps U.S. companies and foreign investors to understand and allocate CFIUS and other foreign investment risk, respond to inquiries and enforcement actions, assess filing requirements, and navigate CFIUS, DCSA FOCI, and other processes to obtain clearance.

  • Broad FCC and Team Telecom Expertise

    Joshua has extensive experience representing clients before the FCC in obtaining transactional approvals, acquiring and transferring licenses, and advocating for changes to FCC rules. He has also assisted numerous clients with the Team Telecom process, a regulatory review that examines foreign ownership of U.S.-regulated telecom enterprises.

  • A Recognized Practitioner

    Joshua has been recognized as a leading foreign investment lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Foreign Investment Watch, and Who’s Who Legal: M&A and Governance – Foreign Investment Reviews. He has also been recognized by Legal 500 for his transactional and commercial work piloting regulated telecom and broadcast entities through FCC approval processes.

  • Broader Technology and Policy Perspective

    Joshua started his career as an engineer and hacker and brings wide-ranging technical knowledge to his assessments of national security risk. He also serves as a thought leader in developing the next wave of national security policy as CFIUS counsel to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), where he advocates for policy change and authored NVCA’s model CFIUS language, and as an adjunct, non-resident fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he contributes to projects on technology and international trade.

Joshua Gruenspecht is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he advises domestic and foreign investors, funds, established companies, and start-ups in regulatory, investigative, and enforcement matters.

Joshua routinely represents domestic businesses and foreign entities in foreign investment reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other federal defense and intelligence agencies. In addition, he assists clients in assessing the U.S. transactional risks associated with foreign direct investment (FDI) reviews across the world.

He also regularly represents clients before the FCC, state utilities commissions, and government bodies on communications and other regulatory matters ranging from transactional approvals to rulemaking proceedings. Joshua has negotiated security agreements, information sharing agreements, and network and physical security plans and policies with CFIUS, DCSA, the FCC, and various other federal agencies. On a transactional level, he negotiates on behalf of clients to allocate national security; foreign ownership, control, and influence (FOCI); and communications regulatory risk. As CFIUS counsel to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), he authored the NVCA model CFIUS language for risk allocation in venture capital investing.

Joshua also represents companies in cybersecurity-related matters, consults on cybersecurity policies and practices, and negotiates with government agencies over access to internal networks, source code, and sensitive business information. He leverages his background in cybersecurity research and development for both the federal government and private sector to advise clients in innovative industries, including cybersecurity, biotechnology, financial services, energy, education, and others.

He has represented energy companies, technology companies, and online service providers before various federal agencies over cooperative information sharing and research and development agreements, including those granting governmental access to information protected pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Stored Communications Act, the pen/trap statutes, sector-specific regulations, and various federal and state privacy statutes. He also has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies in responding to congressional, federal, and state regulatory agency requests for information regarding their cybersecurity preparedness.

Joshua previously practiced at another multinational law firm and has served as a Cybersecurity Fellow with the Center for Democracy and Technology. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer working on network security research and development for the federal government and BBN Technologies, focusing on device exploitation and computer network exploitation.

Experience

Joshua Gruenspecht is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he advises domestic and foreign investors, funds, established companies, and start-ups in regulatory, investigative, and enforcement matters.

Joshua routinely represents domestic businesses and foreign entities in foreign investment reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other federal defense and intelligence agencies. In addition, he assists clients in assessing the U.S. transactional risks associated with foreign direct investment (FDI) reviews across the world.

He also regularly represents clients before the FCC, state utilities commissions, and government bodies on communications and other regulatory matters ranging from transactional approvals to rulemaking proceedings. Joshua has negotiated security agreements, information sharing agreements, and network and physical security plans and policies with CFIUS, DCSA, the FCC, and various other federal agencies. On a transactional level, he negotiates on behalf of clients to allocate national security; foreign ownership, control, and influence (FOCI); and communications regulatory risk. As CFIUS counsel to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), he authored the NVCA model CFIUS language for risk allocation in venture capital investing.

Joshua also represents companies in cybersecurity-related matters, consults on cybersecurity policies and practices, and negotiates with government agencies over access to internal networks, source code, and sensitive business information. He leverages his background in cybersecurity research and development for both the federal government and private sector to advise clients in innovative industries, including cybersecurity, biotechnology, financial services, energy, education, and others.

He has represented energy companies, technology companies, and online service providers before various federal agencies over cooperative information sharing and research and development agreements, including those granting governmental access to information protected pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Stored Communications Act, the pen/trap statutes, sector-specific regulations, and various federal and state privacy statutes. He also has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies in responding to congressional, federal, and state regulatory agency requests for information regarding their cybersecurity preparedness.

Joshua previously practiced at another multinational law firm and has served as a Cybersecurity Fellow with the Center for Democracy and Technology. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer working on network security research and development for the federal government and BBN Technologies, focusing on device exploitation and computer network exploitation.

Focus Areas
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Trump Administration Issues Executive Order on Advanced AI Innovation and Security
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Client Highlights
Wilson Sonsini Advises Adyen on $335 Million Acquisition of Orb
On June 11, 2026, Adyen N.V. (AMS: ADYEN), a global financial technology platform, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire enterprise billing platform Orb for $335 million. Upon closing, Orb will become an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary managed under an incubator model. The strategic intent is to eventually create a unified infrastructure experience for merchants across billing and payments.
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Recent Events
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Reindustrialize Summit
Wilson Sonsini is proud to sponsor Reindustrialize Summit, a premier gathering bringing together the builders, investors, policymakers, and operators driving the next era of American industrial and technological leadership.
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Speaking Engagements
ACI's 12th National CFIUS Conference
On April 21, 2026, Wilson Sonsini partner Joshua Gruenspecht will be speaking as part of the ACI National CFIUS Conference. He and his fellow presenters will address the topic “A Legal and Practical Guide to Mitigation Agreements: Key Legal Nuances and National Security Agreement (NSA) Structures for Dual-Use and Emerging Technology.” This workshop will examine how the Committee is approaching transactions and mitigation involving dual-use and emerging technologies, as well as the evolving landscape of legal and practical considerations affecting National Security Agreements (NSAs). For more information, please visit the event website.
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