AI-funded political groups see mixed results in midterm races

Two AI-focused PACs, American Mission and Building the Future, collectively spent $4.8 million supporting South Carolina Senate candidate Darlene Graham, who was unsuccessful. American Mission is the Republican arm of Leading the Future (LTF), a group supported by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz. The organization also allocated over $500,000 each to Republican House candidates Aaron Flint in Montana and Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina, both of whom lost.

Think Big, LTF’s Democratic spending arm, achieved greater success in backing Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who secured reelection.

Public First, backed by Anthropic, also experienced mixed results, supporting several losing Republican candidates while finding more success with Democratic hopefuls. The group contributed $3 million to a PAC supporting California state Sen. Scott Wiener, who was leading his race at the time of publication.

Guardrails Alliance, which aims to highlight financial ties between candidates and AI companies, spent over $1 million opposing California Rep. Jimmy Gomez and Montana’s Flint, both of whom lost. They also contributed $300,000 to Angela Gonzales-Torres, who defeated Gomez.

The influence of AI-related spending is difficult to isolate from the broader Democratic successes in the elections. Even Elon Musk, who reportedly invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Republican candidates, saw many of his choices fall short.

LTF has prioritized primary elections, where they spent $27.38 million, including $8 million opposing New York Assembly member Alex Bores, who lost in June. The group assesses race competitiveness and potential impact before committing resources to general elections.

Charlie Blaettler, political director of Guardrails Alliance, suggested LTF’s limited general election spending was a deliberate strategy. “They don’t want their money to become an issue in these elections,” he said, referencing the Michigan Senate primary where AIPAC’s significant spending became a central narrative.

The core disagreement between AI PACs revolves around whether a national AI framework should preempt state laws, or whether states should retain regulatory authority.

Both LTF and Guardrails Alliance intend to continue their political involvement in the 2028 elections. While LTF’s advertisements typically focus on broader issues, Guardrails Alliance’s ads specifically target candidates receiving funding from the AI industry, aiming to make “AI money politically toxic,” according to Blaettler.