technology
Super PACs Raise $190 Million for AI Policy in Midterms
Americans express bipartisan worries over AI's economic and safety impacts, with polls showing majority support for regulation and slower development. Super PACs backed by tech leaders have amassed significant funds to shape AI policy in the midterms. Local opposition has stalled $64 billion in data center projects nationwide.
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Super PACs focused on AI policy have raised substantial funds ahead of the midterm elections, with Leading the Future collecting $140 million and Public First Action holding $50 million in cash, including $20 million from Anthropic. Leading the Future is funded primarily by OpenAI president Greg Brockman and tech investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
Public First Action is affiliated with super PACs dedicated to supporting candidates that will back public safeguards against AI.
More than 60 percent of both Republicans and Democrats polled by Ipsos earlier in 2026 agree that the government should regulate AI for economic stability and public safety. The same poll found that more than 60 percent of both parties agree AI’s development should slow down.
Alec Tyson, the lead pollster for Ipsos Public Affairs, stated that when asked what’s on their mind, AI and data centers aren’t rising to the top of the list at least not yet.
Tyson added that broad topics like the economy and immigration remain priorities for many voters. He stated that the amount of available space or potential for another issue to break through has to be a pretty acute or powerful concern, and we’re just not seeing that at the national level with AI yet. The Verge reported these findings as part of broader coverage on AI's role in elections.
Data Center Watch, a group that tracks data center projects and their opposition, found that 55 percent of politicians who publicly opposed large data center projects were Republicans. Opposition to data center projects has blocked or delayed $64 billion worth of development across the country, according to Data Center Watch.
