AI interest groups pour tens of millions of dollars into 2026 election
Leading AI donors and super PACs have spent about $30 million in primaries and have tens of millions more for House and Senate races.
- AI and cryptocurrency sectors are injecting hundreds of millions into the 2026 midterm elections, with super PAC Leading the Future raising $125 million from tech donors including Greg Brockman, Marc Andreessen, and Benjamin Horowitz to influence Congress.
- Leading the Future has deployed roughly $30 million across nearly 40 primaries this year, boasting a 38-1 record while supporting both Democrats and Republicans willing to advance data center development or deregulate artificial intelligence.
- Think Big, a political action committee, spent over $8 million to defeat New York lawmaker Alex Bores, who had supported artificial intelligence regulation and ultimately lost his race.
- Beyond Leading the Future, companies like Anthropic have contributed millions, while a second group, Public First Action, has raised $80 million to support candidates backing increased government oversight of artificial intelligence.
- Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, said, "This is a really small group of people that wants to make a very big splash in the election," highlighting unprecedented spending scale.
16 Articles
16 Articles
How American Political Campaigns Are Using AI—and What They're Spending on the Tools - Schneier on Security
This essay was written with Nathan E. Sanders, and originally appeared in The Guardian. New campaign finance disclosure data shines a light on which US political campaigns are using AI tools and how much they are spending on them. Candidates’, parties’ and committees’ spending reveals that AI is fast becoming an essential tool of politics. The candidates themselves are quiet about how they are using the technology in their own campaigns. It’s a …
Bernie Sanders warns that groups linked to artificial intelligence plan to spend more than $300 million during the election cycle and argues that this influence can condition the Congress’ response. Meanwhile, organizations with opposing positions on regulation already raise millionaire funds and fund candidacies in both parties. *** Bernie Sanders asked to ban super PACs and stated that the AI industry could spend more than $300 million on the …
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