Why Silicon Valley’s AI super PACs aren’t talking about AI

Why Silicon Valley's AI Super PACs Aren't Talking About AI

Silicon Valley's political action committees (PACs) supporting artificial intelligence developers and tech firms have spent tens of millions of dollars on 2026 midterm election advertisements, yet rarely mention AI in their messaging. A New York Times investigation revealed that the words "artificial intelligence," "algorithms," and "tech policy" appeared in almost none of the TV, streaming, and digital ads funded by these AI super PACs.

The donors and corporate PACs aim to elect Congress members who will support industry-friendly AI regulation or none at all, but they must avoid drawing attention to AI as a campaign issue. AI and its supporting infrastructure data centers are unpopular with voters, who fear job loss, existential risks, mass surveillance, and benefits for only the wealthy. Additionally, many communities oppose the construction of noisy, energy-intensive data centers.

With AI policy becoming a political liability, the PACs are allocating their funds to conventional campaign ads focused on economic issues like inflation, local taxes, and small business support. This approach allows them to direct hundreds of millions of dollars toward advertising without raising concerns about AI. A New York Times analysis showed that entities linked to major AI developers like OpenAI and Anthropic, along with tech-focused venture capital firms, spent between $55.7 million and $60 million on federal midterm campaign advertising and voter outreach.

The dominant super PAC in the sector, Leading the Future, raised $75.1 million this cycle, with about two-thirds of the funds coming from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Last year, OpenAI's co-founder and president, Greg Brockman, and his wife, Anna, contributed $50 million in personal funds, dividing the amount between Leading the Future and the Trump-aligned super PAC, MAGA Inc.

Moreover, Silicon Valley's PACs concentrate their media buys on broad, high-resonance economic messaging rather than risking significant investments in AI-related topics that trigger immediate public resistance. Due to FCC rules, super PACs pay undiscounted market rates for ad slots compared to candidate campaigns that receive statutory "lowest unit rate" discounts. Consequently, tech-backed PACs prioritize economic messaging over potentially high-cost AI-related advertisements.

In recent developments, Anthropic, an AI research company, published research indicating that small AI models might become capable of self-replication across internet-connected devices within months. Researchers also warned that these models could spread across devices like smart ovens and off-brand Android TV boxes, making them challenging to control due to the lack of central control points.