Competing super PACs backed by the AI industry, flush with tens of millions of dollars, are already pouring money into the 2026 midterms, starting with the first primaries of the year in Texas and North Carolina.
Only one thing has been missing from their ads so far: any mention of artificial intelligence.
As the groups seek to shape how AI models and companies are regulated nationwide, the biggest players in AI see existential implications for the future of the industry, the United States and the world. But instead of the real policy cause they’re taking sides in these primaries, the groups are favoring red meat or sending a progressive message on other hot-button issues.
This is a technique used by groups in other regions. But early AI-backed spending on ads about immigration and customs enforcement, President Donald Trump, health care and more is especially notable because of the dramatic scale change AI titans expect their product to bring to the American workforce and society.
The forces behind super PACs are funding large nonprofits, which can spend large sums to change public opinion on AI moving forward. For now, his biggest issue is not appearing in his big political campaigns.
Until now, two competing umbrella organizations have dominated AI spending in congressional races. Leading the Future — which received significant funding from OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife Anna Brockman and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Benjamin Horowitz — is a leading super PAC pushing a national framework for AI and criticizing the prospect of various state regulations governing the industry.
Leading the Future banked $39 million at the end of last year and is wading into races through a pair of connected groups, affiliated with each party: Think Big, which supports Democrats, and American Mission, which supports Republicans.
Public First, another super PAC, is trying to counter Leading the Future and its network. The group has received at least $20 million from AI company Anthropic and has called for more significant regulation of AI. It also has two affiliated super PACs: Jobs and Democracy PAC supporting Democrats and Defending Our Values supporting Republicans.
Brad Carson, a former congressman and Defense Department official who helped lead Public First, told NBC News in a statement that while the public recognizes the importance of the issue, “we know AI is not the first thing on every voter’s mind when they go to the polls.”
“They’re worried about the cost of living, about corruption, about whether the economy is working for ordinary people or for tech billionaires. We believe those concerns are inseparable from AI,” added Carson, who served two terms in the House as a Democrat from Oklahoma. “We support candidates who understand who will fight for working families as these technologies emerge. AI is an issue right now, and you want leaders who have thought about what the impact will be.”
A slice of New York City turned out to be the first big battleground for the two sides. The Democratic House primary is intended to retire. Rep. Jerry Nadler is the most crowded, but AI groups are focused on one candidate: state lawmaker Alex Bores, a proponent of AI safety regulation in New York and a former data scientist at Palantir Technologies.
Think Big, one of the Leading the Future affiliates, has spent more than $1.5 million on Bores, including hammering him for Palantir’s work for ICE — even though Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale supported the group and Bores said he left the company because of his opposition to that work.
“It’s black and white: Alex Borse works for the tech company ICE,” says a narrator in a new Think Big digital ad on the run.
Jobs and Democracy PAC, a Public First affiliate, has framed those attacks as cynical and profit-driven in its own ads.
“Right-wing billionaires think they can buy this congressional seat, the same people who fund hate, lies, and ICE raids on our community. Their target: Assemblyman Alex Borse, because he faced him first,” says a narrator in a recent Jobs and Democracy PAC ad.
Think Big is spending more than $1 million each on the comeback bids of two former Illinois members of Congress, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Melissa Bean. Ads in both of those races tout Jackson and Bean’s accomplishments in Congress, including voting for the Affordable Care Act — before the AI debate entered the halls of Congress. Both Illinois Democrats are canceling in competitive primaries for open, deep-blue, Chicagoland seats where the March primary serves as the de facto general election.
Then there’s Rep. Valerie Fauci’s bid for re-election in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, where Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam is attacking incumbents from her left. Fauci is a member of the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, and a major AI-related fight is taking place in the district over the emphasis on the new data center.
The incumbent has previously called for regulations around data centers to mitigate any energy or environmental impacts, and he addressed the data center debate in a social media video this week, saying that while he doesn’t personally support a new data center, he trusts local authorities to “make the right choice.” Allam blasted the proposal, calling for a ban on data centers and attacking Foushi because the AI-linked group was spending on his behalf.
In fact, Public First, the only major AI group in the district, is looking to boost spending with Fauci flooding the race with more than $1.6 million in its final weeks.
But while the data center debate is playing out in local politics, it’s far from a pro-Fausee ad, instead framing the incumbent as a progressive fighter on issues like immigration attacks and holding Trump accountable. The AI spending has prompted a small counter from Justice Democrats, a progressive group that supports Allum, which this week criticized it for dropping new digital advertising and seeking support from the AI industry.
Both parties are raising preferred candidates in other, less important races.
The Lead the Futures Republican group is spending $500,000 each on generic, biographical ads for Larry Buckhout, a Republican candidate in a North Carolina swing district, and Chris Gober, a legal adviser to Elon Musk’s political group in 2024 — an open, safely Republican Texas district.
The Public First Network is spending to boost two Republicans who are heavy favorites to win their primary elections in Texas without leaning into AI in their ads: Army veteran Alex Mealer and Air Force veteran Carlos de la Cruz.
The decision to downplay the central issue that motivates these groups is not a new strategy. Groups with political goals on Israel, cryptocurrency, the environment and more have long chosen to wage their political battles using other issues more salient to primary or general voters.
Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for Leading the Future, told NBC News that the group is supporting and evaluating candidates “to see who we believe are the most innovative candidates when it comes to AI,” which will help guide a candidate’s questionnaire and review of public statements or related documents. He said the debate over AI is “still in its infancy” and he expects it to evolve over this and future election cycles.
“The administration is clear where they stand on this issue, but other members of Congress are starting to formulate their positions on what they want to see from these companies, how it will benefit their constituents, their states and the U.S. economy,” he said.
The public conversation around AI policy “will mature over time as people become more informed,” Hunt said. He said: “Through that process, you’re going to see a lot more conversation about possible ways to improve a lot of people’s lives.”
