Anthropic donates $20M to pro-AI regulation super PAC ahead of 2026 elections

Anthropic donated $20 million to Public First Action, a super PAC supporting candidates who favor AI safety regulation, on February 12, 2026. The group, headed by former lawmakers Brad Carson and Chris Stewart, planned to back 30-50 candidates across party lines including Republican senators Marsha Blackburn and Pete Ricketts. White House AI czar David Sacks accused Anthropic of running a "sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering." OpenAI distanced itself from the move, though OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman had separately donated $25 million to a Trump-supporting PAC.