  Gravity can be considered as an effective quantum field theory with reliable,
but limited predictions. Though the influence of gravity on gauge and other
interactions of elementary particles is still an open question. We calculate
the lowest order quantum gravity contributions to the QED beta function in an
effective field theory picture with a momentum cutoff. We use a recently
proposed 4 dimensional improved momentum cutoff that preserves gauge and
Lorentz symmetries. We find that there is a non-vanishing quadratic
contribution to the photon 2-point function but after renormalization that does
not lead to the running of the original coupling. We comment on corrections to
the other gauge interactions and Yukawa couplings of heavy fermions. We argue
that gravity cannot turn gauge interactions asymptotically free.
