AI giants are spending tens of millions of dollars to plan the US election! The war of political agents has begun. Who will define the future of the industry?
The Zhitong Finance App notes that some giants in the AI and tech world are using the midterm elections to wage a proxy war over the future of the industry.
Various parties, including Anthropic, Meta, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, are all linked to a network of peripheral organizations and super political action committees (Super PACs) designed to shape the power pattern of the next Congress and some state legislatures.
Currently, these organizations have spent more than $65 million and still have tens of millions of dollars in backup. Since so-called “dark money” organizations are not required to disclose their expenses on a regular basis, it may take some time before the final total amount is clear.
The Trump administration has generally taken a friendly stance on AI regulation, but tension between the two sides increased after the White House delayed releasing the latest cutting-edge models of Anthropic and OpenAI. The two companies are also closely watching what actions (if any) the Trump administration and lawmakers will eventually take against China's open-source weighted AI models, such as the popular Kimi K3 from Dark Side of the Moon.
AI is facing a critical moment as more people use more advanced models than ever before. At the same time, the industry's popularity in the public mind has declined sharply. Some states are even considering introducing data center moratoriums, such as the ban that New York Governor Cathy Hochul recently signed into effect.
Here are the Super Political Action Committees to focus on as this year progresses:
Leading the Future (Leading the Future)
The biggest player so far is “Lead the Future,” a pro-AI hyperpolitical action committee network linked to some of Silicon Valley's tech elites.
As of the end of June, the network's main super political action committee had raised nearly $76 million, according to US Federal Election Commission (FEC) documents.
These include:
$50 million from Andreessen Horowitz;
$25 million from OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife Anna (Anna);
$25 million ($12.5 million each) from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz;
$10 million from Perplexity.
Brockman explained his philosophy on political donations in a long post published on X in late 2025, which stated: “Supporting AI does not mean opposing regulation.”
After “Leading the Future” attracted widespread attention, OpenAI kept a distance from Brockman's donation, saying his actions were purely personal.
The network includes a super political action committee “Think Big” (Think Big) for the Democratic election, and a super political action committee focused on the Republican Party, “American Mission” (American Mission).
“Leading the Future” has disbursed $20 million to “Big Picture Thinking.” According to FEC documents, SV Angel founder Lon Conway injected another $500,000 into this Democratic-focused super political action committee.
Meanwhile, 8VC founder Joe Lonsdale donated $25 million to “American Mission.” “Leading the Future” has also allocated $20 million to this Republican-focused super political action committee.
The organization said in an August 2025 press release that it plans to become a “political and policy focus in the field of AI” and will “support candidates who are aligned with the pro-AI agenda” while “opposing those who do not.”
“Big Picture Thinking” and “American Mission” have so far spent more than $29 million. “Leading the Future” still has more than $31 million in its hands, which keeps the organization's treasury full as the midterm elections approach.
Up to now, “big picture thinking” has spent more than $18 million, more than $7.6 million more than the “American Mission” facing the Republican Party.
Of this $18 million, $8 million was used in the Democratic primary for New York's 12th congressional district, specifically against Representative Alex Bowles.
Powers, who previously worked for Palantir, called for stricter regulation of AI and promoted relevant legislation during his time as a New York state legislator. In the end, he lost to his colleague, State Representative Mika Raschel, who also supports stronger AI regulations, and came in second place. “Big Picture Thinking” also spent about $7.2 million to support several Democratic congressional candidates. The largest amount ($1.4 million) was spent on the resurgence of former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., in Dongshan, Illinois, but it was unsuccessful.
“Mission America” has so far spent $10.7 million. In total, the organization is trying to help 19 Republican candidates running for Congress. The organization spent more than $960,000 canvassing for Georgia Republican Jim Kingston, the son of former U.S. Congressman Jack Kingston.
“Leading the Future” also has an allied non-profit organization called “Build American AI” (Build American AI), which is not required to disclose its donor information.
Public First (Public First)
In response to “leading the future,” two former congressmen — Utah Republican Chris Stewart and Oklahoma Democrat Brad Carson — formed a competitive political network “Public First” (Public First) to support candidates in favor of regulating AI.
Public First Action (Public First Action) is the umbrella parent organization of three super political action committees, and it doesn't require a public list of donors. In June of this year, the organization said it had raised $80 million to date. Anthropic has donated $40 million to the organization.
Carson previously told the media that even though “public priority” may be suppressed by “leading the future” in terms of capital investment, he is optimistic about his chances of winning. At the time, the goal of “Public Priority Action” was to raise $50 million.
“We have $50 million and 85% public support. They have 15% public support and $1 billion,” Carson said. “I'm always willing to stand by us in this kind of gambling game.”
Anthropic said the company doubled its funding due to rapid advances in AI, including the development of its Claude Mythos model (the AI startup initially donated $20 million in February). Mythos is very advanced, and as of late July, it was still only open to a few companies and institutions due to concerns about its ability to be hacked.
In its July donation statement, Anthropic said: “We are donating to 'Public Priority Action' as part of our attempt to raise the profile of this pressing policy debate.”
Anthropic has claimed that its donations “must not be used to influence the election of any candidate for federal, state, or local public office,” but the Super Political Action Committee, an ally of “Public Priority Action,” is involved in just such activities.
The organization has two super political action committees: “Public First” (Public First), which supports candidates from both parties; one supports Democrats, called the “Jobs and Democracy PAC” (Jobs and Democracy PAC); and another supports Republicans called the “Defending Our Values PAC” (Defending Our Values PAC).
Of the three super political action committees, “Public First” is the smallest, but it has attracted support from the biggest names. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei donated $1 million to the organization. Other Anthropic employees contributed an additional $2.1 million.
Together, “Public Priority Action” and “Public First” have donated more than $19 million. The second largest donor was Jan Lake, who led the Anthropic Alignment Science (Alignment Science) team. Lake donated $100,000 and separately added $400,000 to Public First.
The “Committee for Work and Democracy Political Action” has so far spent nearly $20 million. The vast majority of these funds (over $15 million) were used to support Bowers' election during his losing primary election. The organization also spent $1.6 million to support North Carolina Congressman Valerie Fauci, who successfully won the pre-watched Democratic primary election.
The “Safeguarding Our Values Political Action Committee” has spent $5 million to date. Similar to “Work and Democracy,” its biggest supporters are “Public Priority Action” and “Public First,” which together sent more than $5.2 million to the organization.
Of the funds currently spent, Republican Carlos de la Cruz is the biggest beneficiary, having invested more than $1.4 million to date to drive the congressional elections, which are the focus of his redistricting Texas congressional elections. The organization also spent about $1 million to support Utah Representative Celeste Malloy, who is running for re-election in a readjusted constituency due to district replanning.
Two Meta-supported organizations
Meta has also joined the funding race to establish two separate organizations to support candidates in line with its AI regulatory vision.
Unlike other organizations, Meta's work will focus primarily on the state level.
An organization called “Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across California (Meta) California” (Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across California) targets California, which is where Meta is headquartered.
A Meta spokesperson previously told the media: “As home to many of the world's top AI companies, California's innovative economy has had a huge impact on America's economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness. But the regulatory environment in Sacramento (the capital of California) could stifle innovation, hinder AI progress, and put California's tech leadership in jeopardy.”
The spokesperson added that the political action committee will support bipartisan candidates who “recognize California's critical role in AI development and accept policies that keep the state at the cutting edge of the global tech ecosystem.”
Meta injected $20 million into its California-focused Political Action Committee in August 2025, according to a recent filing with the California Secretary of State.
The California-focused organization has spent more than $4.3 million to date. The biggest beneficiary is Scott Sakakihara (Scott Sakakihara), a Democrat who is running for a state senator seat covering part of the Silicon Valley region. The organization has spent $1.3 million to fuel its campaign.
Another independent organization, the “American Technology Excellence Project” (American Technology Excellence Project), focuses on campaigns in other states.
Meta's vice president of public policy, Brian Rice, said in a statement to the media: “At a time when increasing and disparate regulatory restrictions threaten local innovation and AI investments, state legislators are in a unique position to ensure that America remains a global technology leader.”
The organization is a “527 organization”, a special non-profit organization created specifically to influence elections. Unlike so-called “dark money” organizations, 527 organizations must disclose their donors.
According to information submitted to the IRS, Meta donated $45 million to the organization.
Of these funds, Meta has transferred $5.5 million of it to a pair of allied Super Political Action Committees that will operate at the state level. The pro-Republican Super Political Action Committee is called “Forge the Future” (Forge the Future), while the pro-Democratic organization is called “Making Our Tomorrow” (Making Our Tomorrow).
The “Building Our Tomorrow” branch in Illinois reports that it has spent more than $65 million to date. And the “Shaping the Future” branch in Texas has so far spent more than $1.3 million.