The AI Super PAC Fight That Might Shape the Midterms

An artificial intelligence industry PAC plans to pour over $100 million into this year’s midterm elections in hopes of getting more industry-friendly lawmakers into office, but the path to an AI-friendly Congress might not be an easy one.

Its first target is Alex Bores, a Democrat running to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York.

The state Assembly member, a former Palantir engineer, successfully pushed the RAISE Act, one of the first state-level AI safety laws. If elected to the House, he wants to create more safety regulations for AI development, chatbots and data centers.

Those views have earned him opposition from Leading the Future, a super PAC network that intends to influence AI policy in Washington and released an ad targeting Bores over his pro-AI regulation stances late last year.

Bores said the spending planned by Leading the Future is outsized but also unsurprising.

“These are people who want unbridled control over the American workforce or American education system, over our utility bills, over our climate,” Bores told NOTUS.

“If they get that, that is worth a lot of money to them. And so, while $100 million is an insane amount for anyone to be spending, in some sense it’s just a [venture capital] investment for them, because their returns could be trillions,” Bores added.

Leading the Future is backed by major donors to President Donald Trump, like Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman. The super PAC pledged major spending in the midterms in a push to replicate the crypto industry’s successful push for a friendlier Congress.

The super PAC has money and influential backers, but it’s up against public skepticism of AI and wealthy pro-regulation donors. Another network of super PACs, called Public First, is serving as its counterpoint by pledging $50 million to support candidates who support AI regulation from both parties this year.

As competing super PACs try to secure wins for candidates on both sides of the AI legislation debate, Bores’ campaign could become a test to see if money can ease Congress’ apprehension toward AI.

Public First pledged only half as much money toward the midterms as Leading the Future. But Public First founder Brad Carson, a former Democratic congressman, told NOTUS that the pro-regulation side has enough public sentiment to bridge that gap.

“I often tell people, ‘Which of these sides would you rather have? We have $50 million and 85% of the public sentiment. They have $100 million and 15% of the public opinion.’ Which of those is most likely to win? I think our side will do that,” Carson said.

A Gallup poll last year found that 80% of Americans support AI safety even if it means a slower development of AI capabilities. Another poll by the Pew Research Center found that both Democrats and Republicans are now equally concerned about the increased use of AI.

Public First’s backing is meant to help encourage candidates not to be afraid of questioning AI, Carson said.

“It’s like, ‘You don’t need to fear that the Death Star is gonna show up at your doorstep and destroy you if you even engage the AI policy question,’” Carson said. “That’s the goal.”

But along with major funds, Leading the Future is using a playbook that has worked in the past.

Leading the Future is co-led by Josh Vlasto , a former adviser to the crypto-affiliated super PAC Fairshake. In 2024, the crypto industry spent over $130 million in the general elections through Super PACs, helping unseat former Sen. Sherrod Brown and replacing him with pro-crypto Sen. Bernie Moreno. They also supported the victories of up-and-coming Senators like Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Ruben Gallego, who both voted to pass landmark cryptocurrency legislation.

Congress, usually sluggish to regulate new technologies, is fast-tracking another bill meant to incorporate cryptocurrencies into the broader economy, a long-sought goal of the crypto industry.

The AI industry hopes to gain similar ground within Congress. The industry has obtained major concessions from Trump, as tech leaders have showered him with money,flattery and grand gestures. Late last year, Trump took executive actions aimed atcurbing state-level AI laws andallowing NVIDIA to sell advanced AI chips to China, both major wins for the industry.

But the AI industry failed to secure any significant victories in Congress last year. Companies lobbying for light AI regulations failed twice to get Congress to approve a moratorium on states regulating AI development.

“We plan to back leaders who will set aside politics to establish a clear, consistent national framework that will help us to remain a leader in AI innovation and win the race against China,” Leading the Future spokesperson Jesse Hunt said in a statement. “Groups who want to open the door for China to dominate artificial intelligence will put our economy, our children, and our communities at risk of exploitation.”

Bores said that AI regulation doesn’t necessarily need to slow down innovation.

“There are real concerns with AI, which is not a call to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but it is to say there’s real issues that need to be addressed,” he said. “And so, when you have one side saying, ‘No one should regulate this at all’ and another side saying ‘Hey, I want Americans to have a voice in how the most important and fastest-developing technology of our time comes into existence,’ it’s a pretty easy conversation to have.”

Bores argued that AI policy will become more important to voters if the technology goes on to cause people to lose jobs, face increased costs due to data centers or have damaging interactions with the technology.

“I expected [AI] to get even more salient,” Bores said. “It is already quite salient because it’s affecting every part of people’s lives. You know, it’s not just a political issue. It’s a daily life issue.”