Two AI-linked committees spent $4.8 million backing Graham, who lost — TechCrunch
Political committees that support the artificial intelligence industry or advocate for stricter rules for it spent millions of dollars on the U.S. midterm elections. The most notable spending did not always bring results: South Carolina Senate candidate Darlene Graham, whom two committees backed with a combined $4.8 million, lost the election. TechCrunch reports.
Spending by industry supporters
American Mission and Building the Future supported Graham in her Senate campaign. American Mission is the Republican arm of the political group Leading the Future, which is backed by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
American Mission also spent more than $500,000 supporting Republicans Aaron Flint in Montana and Lori Buckhout in North Carolina; both were defeated. At the same time, Leading the Future's Democratic arm, Think Big, backed Florida Representative Jared Moskowitz, who retained his seat in the House of Representatives.
According to the outlet, Leading the Future focused mainly on primaries, where it considered spending more effective for building candidates' name recognition and shaping their approaches to AI policy. The group spent $27.38 million on primaries, including $8 million on a campaign against New York State Assembly member Alex Bores, who lost his bid for a seat in Congress in June.
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Supporters of AI restrictions
Groups seeking stronger AI safeguards also had mixed results. Public First, which is backed by Anthropic, supported several Republicans who lost through an affiliated political committee, but worked more successfully with Democratic candidates. It also transferred $3 million to a committee supporting California state Senator Scott Wiener, who was leading in his race at the time of publication.
Guardrails Alliance spent more than $1 million on campaigns against California Representative Jimmy Gomez and Flint; both candidates lost. The group also directed $300,000 to support Angela Gonzalez-Torres, who defeated Gomez.
Dispute over AI rules
A key point of contention between such committees is whether the U.S. Congress should adopt a single nationwide AI regulatory system that would take precedence over state laws, or whether states should retain the right to establish their own safeguards. Leading the Future said it intends to continue spending in the 2028 campaign, while Guardrails Alliance said it would oppose candidates backed by the AI industry.
