Artificial intelligence companies, investors and policy advocates are channeling tens of millions of dollars into the 2026 US elections as lawmakers debate who should set the rules for AI and whether federal legislation should displace state requirements.
A nationwide map published by Newsweek, drawing on federal and state filings and data from Tech Influence Watch, identified more than $55.5 million in spending on federal races during the current election cycle. The groups included in the analysis had raised more than $107 million for federal contests, while over $20 million had moved into state races. New York, Texas, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina and Utah each recorded more than $2 million in combined AI-linked political activity.
The spending comes from groups with competing regulatory agendas rather than a unified industry campaign. Some are seeking a single national framework and object to a state-by-state collection of rules, which they say would complicate the development and deployment of AI products. Others support state safety measures and oppose federal preemption unless Congress adopts comprehensive protections of its own.
Leading the Future, a political network supported by technology figures including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, is the largest spender identified by the map. Its network had raised more than $125 million and spent over $24 million in federal primaries through June, based on Federal Election Commission filings. It also endorsed 18 Republican candidates for state legislatures in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.
The group has promoted a national approach to AI policy while intervening in races involving state regulation. In New York, it opposed Assemblymember Alex Bores, who had advocated for a stronger version of the RAISE Act. The network later supported the less stringent version signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, illustrating how the political fight extends beyond a simple choice between regulating AI and leaving it unregulated.
Public First Action represents the most heavily funded pro-regulation network included in the analysis. Led by former US Representatives Brad Carson and Chris Stewart, it raised $80 million, including $40 million from Anthropic. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei separately contributed $1 million. Affiliated committees — Public First, Jobs and Democracy PAC and Defending Our Values PAC — had spent more than $20 million.
Public First Action has backed candidates in Florida, Texas, Utah and North Carolina. Its position favors allowing states to adopt AI safeguards and rejects federal legislation that would block those measures without replacing them with a broad national system.
Meta is also financing election activity at the state level. The company contributed $20 million to a California-focused political committee that had spent more than $4.3 million. The largest beneficiary was Scott Sakakihara, a Democrat seeking a state Senate seat in Silicon Valley. Meta also gave $45 million to a national 527 organization, which directed $5.5 million to two super PACs active in Illinois and Texas.
The campaigns are generally not divided along traditional party lines. Both groups favoring faster AI development and organizations calling for stronger safeguards have supported candidates from both major parties, sometimes in the same states. The central policy dispute is increasingly federal preemption: whether Congress should establish one nationwide standard that prevents states from enforcing separate AI laws.
The spending networks have posted strong results in primaries so far. Leading the Future supported 28 candidates, 25 of whom won their races, while 10 of the 11 candidates supported by Public First Action prevailed. Those outcomes do not establish that political spending determined the results, but they leave both networks positioned to influence the composition of the next Congress and several state legislatures.
More money could enter races in states considering AI safety requirements, data-center rules and protections for children online. With the two largest AI political networks having raised more than $200 million between them, the contest over federal and state authority is likely to remain a major focus through Election Day.
Sources: AI safety policy