US campaigns spent over $137 million on AI ads — Fortune
Political campaigns in the United States spent more than $137 million on 220 videos that were at least partially created using artificial intelligence. The Wesleyan Media Project research group released these data as of October 11 ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Fortune reports.
For comparison, during the 2024 election campaigns, researchers identified less than $50,000 in spending on AI-created advertising. Wesleyan Media Project co-director Travis Ridout called the shift from nearly zero spending in the previous election cycle to a nine-figure sum particularly notable.
Most videos were not labeled
According to the report, more than 70% of AI election videos did not contain a disclaimer or other notice about the use of this technology. AI is used in such videos in different ways: from replacing stock footage, including handshakes, to creating images of candidates.
Ridout warned that the spread of such materials could force candidates to spend more time responding to disinformation rather than explaining their own platforms. According to him, voters may recognize artificially created videos but still be influenced by false claims in them. Some voters may also lose trust in the reliability of information from candidates.
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Republican advantage
Republican campaign teams and political committees accounted for 81% of AI advertising videos and 88% of spending on them. Ridout linked this to Republicans’ more favorable attitude toward the technology.
One example was the Senate campaign in Texas, where Republican Ken Paxton is running against Democrat James Talarico. In one of Paxton’s videos, an AI-generated Talarico writes in a Bible with colored chalk and delivers a fabricated monologue about God and gender. Talarico said he had tried to ban AI deepfakes through legislation because they are misleading.
At the same time, Ridout noted that AI can reduce the costs of filming additional footage and working on location. In his view, this gives candidates with smaller budgets an opportunity to create campaign videos and gain attention they might otherwise not receive.
