AI Super PAC Spending Is Ramping Up Ahead of Midterms

According to Axios, AI-focused super PACs are entering the midterms with millions of dollars in the bank, and Federal Election Commission filings show more spending may be ahead. Leading the Future, a pro-AI industry super PAC backed by tech executives and investors, ended the second quarter with $31 million after transferring $20 million to affiliated groups, including $10 million each to Think Big PAC and American Mission PAC. On the other side, Public First PAC reported about $494,000 in cash on hand, while the Republican-focused Defending Our Values PAC ended the quarter with nearly $315,000 and the newly launched Guardrails Alliance reported nearly $400,000. Public First Action, the affiliated 501(c)(4) that received $20 million from Anthropic earlier this year, is tied to three super PACs; its PAC raised about $3.4 million in the quarter, transferred $3.3 million to Jobs and Democracy PAC, and received nearly $10 million from Public First Action during the reporting period. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei donated $1 million, and employees at Anthropic, Google and OpenAI contributed more than $2 million.