AI Political Spending Slows for Midterms

With seven days remaining before the November election, two factions of the artificial intelligence industry have spent a combined $14.9 million on general election congressional races. Groups favoring lighter regulation outspent their counterparts by a margin of $1.1 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings through October 20.

The split originated in August 2025 when Leading the Future launched with over $100 million in commitments. The network, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, deployed Democratic and Republican PACs to support candidates aligned with faster deployment. This strategy mirrored the 2024 cryptocurrency election cycle, where Fairshake and affiliated groups spent over $130 million to back 53 of 58 winning candidates.

A rival coalition formed simultaneously. Anthropic committed $40 million to Public First Action between February and July, providing financial support for groups advocating stricter safety guardrails and state-level authority. The two camps clashed most visibly in New York’s 12th District Democratic primary. Think Big, an affiliate of Leading the Future, spent $8.3 million to oppose State Assemblymember Alex Bores. In response, the Jobs and Democracy PAC deployed approximately $15 million to support him. Bores lost to Micah Lasher by a four-point margin.

The general election spending has slowed significantly compared to the primary season. Leading the Future’s network reported roughly $26 million in primary independent expenditures against about $8 million in general election races. Safeguards-focused groups reported $32.1 million in primary spending against $6.9 million in general election contests. Together, these groups allocated 74% of their $78.5 million federal campaign spending to primary races.

The shift in spending strategy coincides with changing public opinion. A recent CNBC survey found 52% of registered voters support pausing advanced AI development until Congress passes regulations. Another 63% oppose building an AI data center within ten miles of their home. Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability, noted that the backlash has made AI a difficult political sell.

Major donors have adjusted their contributions in response. The Brockmans abandoned plans for a second $25 million contribution to Leading the Future after internal objections at OpenAI. Meta also scaled back its political push, with its funded groups returning $25 million this summer. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, told Politico that the current approach is not working and that spending money on politics is not the solution.

In Florida’s 25th Congressional District, the industry split created a direct general election contest. Jared Moskowitz, supported by Think Big during the primary, faces Republican Scott Singer, who received $857,000 from Defending Our Values. The race concludes in one week.