As the US midterm elections approach, political action committees backed by the artificial intelligence industry have built substantial balances, setting the stage for intensified spending. Federal Election Commission filings show a clear funding gap between pro‑industry groups that favor rapid AI development and lighter regulation, and organizations that prioritize AI safety and transparency.
Key figures and transfers
- Leading the Future, a pro–AI industry super PAC supported by technology executives and investors, reported $31.5 million on hand at the end of the second quarter after transferring $20 million to affiliated groups. Its filing shows $10 million each was disbursed to Think Big PAC and American Mission PAC.
- Jesse Hunt, a spokesperson for Leading the Future, said the organization’s resources will allow it to continue building "a deep bench of pro-innovation champions."
The other side: safety and transparency groups
- Public First Action, a bipartisan 501(c)(4) that advocates for AI safety, received $20 million from Anthropic earlier this year and is tied to three super PACs.
- The bipartisan Public First PAC reported about $494,000 cash on hand at the end of Q2.
- One super PAC connected to Public First raised roughly $3.4 million during the quarter—much of it from Anthropic executives and employees—and transferred $3.3 million to its affiliate, Jobs and Democracy PAC.
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei donated $1 million to Public First. Employees of Anthropic, Google and OpenAI collectively gave more than $2 million to the super PAC.
- Jobs and Democracy PAC, which backs Democrats, had about $1.3 million cash on hand at quarter end. That super PAC spent heavily supporting New York pro‑AI safety candidate Alex Bores, who lost to fellow Democrat Micah Lasher.
- During the reporting period, Public First Action, the affiliated 501(c)(4), provided nearly $10 million to the connected super PAC.
Other players
- The Republican-focused Defending Our Values PAC closed the quarter with nearly $315,000 cash on hand.
- Guardrails Alliance, a newly launched super PAC backed by tech workers and founded by Democratic organizers that advocates for strong AI safety rules and workers’ rights, reported nearly $400,000 cash on hand.
Why it matters
Current filings indicate groups focused on AI safety and transparency trail industry fundraising by a substantial margin. So far, candidates have not won or lost solely on the AI issue, but with multiple tens of millions of dollars still available, AI-aligned groups are well positioned to press their priorities before November.
Bottom line
With roughly $31 million in its accounts after inter-group transfers, Leading the Future has considerable capacity to expand its footprint in the run-up to the midterms.
