AI Super PACs Duel Over Midterm Spending

The New York Times reports that two AI-focused super PACs, Public First and Leading the Future, rank among the biggest spenders in the 2026 U.S. midterm cycle, having deployed nearly $24 million so far, with supporters signaling more than $100 million in additional spending, according to reporting by Theodore Schleifer.

The Times frames the spending as a proxy conflict between Anthropic and OpenAI. Anthropic has publicly said it donated $20 million to a political nonprofit, Public First Action, which anchors a network of affiliated super PACs. On the other side, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and his wife have donated to Leading the Future, which aims to act as an industry umbrella group and runs a Democratic affiliate, Think Big, and a Republican arm, American Mission.

Reporting indicates the companies have taken different regulatory stances, with OpenAI generally favoring a lighter-touch approach and Anthropic supporting stricter rules. Both networks are structured to spend across party lines, including in primary contests.

For AI practitioners, concentrated political spending by major model vendors can influence how AI regulation is framed and how quickly it advances, which in turn affects compliance obligations and procurement decisions. The dynamic also illustrates how policy advocacy is becoming a competitive lever among frontier labs.

Track FEC disclosures, the specific races and primaries targeted, and whether the spending translates into concrete legislative or regulatory language rather than broad agenda-setting.