January 5, 2026
AI industry raises $125M to elect pro-industry Congress members
OpenAI president and a16z co-founded PAC to block state AI safety laws
🤖AI Governance🗳️Elections🔐Ethics📋Public Policy🏢Legislative Process💡Technology
OpenAI President Greg Brockman and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz co-founded the Leading the Future PAC in August 2025. The PAC raised $125 million in commitments and entered 2026 with $49.6 million cash on hand, according to FEC filings. Its stated goal: elect Congress members who will pass a federal AI law that blocks states from writing their own, stricter rules.
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each personally contributed $12.5 million, while Greg and Anna Brockman contributed another $12.5 million. These three donations alone account for $37.5 million of the PAC's war chest. Every major contributor has direct financial stakes in how AI gets regulated.
Think Big PAC, one of Leading the Future's affiliated groups, launched its first ads targeting New York Assemblymember Alex Bores after he ran for Congress. Bores had spearheaded New York's RAISE Act, signed into law in December 2025, which requires large AI developers to publish safety protocols and report safety incidents. The ads made Bores a cautionary example for other lawmakers considering AI regulation.
Additional AI-focused PACs have joined the spending effort including META-C (affiliated with Meta), the American Technology Excellence Project, and other unnamed political organizations. Bloomberg reported a combined $51 million midterm fundraising haul across these groups as of January 30, 2026. This coordinated spending across multiple PACs amplifies the industry's political influence beyond what any single organization could achieve.
Senator 
Marsha Blackburn introduced the TRUMP AMERICA AI Act, which would codify Trump's December 2025 executive order and create a federal framework that preempts state AI laws. Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz offered an amendment imposing a 10-year moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, though the Senate defeated it by a nearly unanimous vote in July 2025.
Federal preemption means Congress passes a law that explicitly prevents states from enacting their own AI regulations. States like California have historically led on technology regulation, from privacy laws to emissions standards. If Congress passes a weak federal AI law that overrides stronger state laws, it creates a regulatory floor that becomes a ceiling, locking in minimal protections nationwide.
Pro-regulation groups have launched their own counter-PACs
Former Reps
Brad Carson (D-OK) and Chris Stewart (R-UT) started Public First Action with a trio of super PACs to advance AI safeguards The battle is now playing out in midterm ads across targeted districts, with both sides spending millions to frame AI regulation as either protecting the public or stifling innovation.
The White House has reportedly been 'irked' by Leading the Future's activities, suggesting the PAC's goals may conflict with the administration's own AI policy preferences. This tension creates a dynamic where the industry is trying to influence Congress independent of, and potentially against, executive branch positions on AI governance.
🤖AI Governance🗳️Elections🔐Ethics📋Public Policy🏢Legislative Process💡Technology
People, bills, and sources
Greg Brockman
Co-founder of Leading the Future PAC; President and co-founder of OpenAI
Marc Andreessen
Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z); Leading the Future PAC backer
Ben Horowitz
Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z); Leading the Future PAC backer
Joe Lonsdale
Co-founder of Palantir Technologies; PAC backer
Ron Conway
Founder of SV Angel; prominent Silicon Valley angel investor; PAC backer
Alex Bores
New York State Assemblymember; sponsor of New York's RAISE Act
Aravind Srinivas
CEO and co-founder of Perplexity AI; PAC backer
Marsha Blackburn
U.S. Senator (R-TN); sponsor of the TRUMP AMERICA AI Act
What you can do
1
civic action
Research whether your representatives have received AI PAC funding
Check whether your federal and state representatives have received campaign contributions from AI industry PACs. This information is publicly available through the Federal Election Commission and state election databases.
Use the FEC's campaign finance database to search for contributions from Leading the Future, META-C, American Technology Excellence Project, and other AI-related PACs to your representatives. Cross-reference with your representatives' positions on AI regulation.
2
civic action
Contact your representatives about AI regulation and industry influence
Let your representatives know your views on AI regulation and whether industry PAC money should influence their positions. Constituent voices are most powerful when they demonstrate awareness of campaign finance dynamics.
Hello, my name is [NAME] and I'm a constituent from [CITY/ZIP]. I'm calling about AI regulation. I'm aware that Silicon Valley PACs like Leading the Future have raised $125 million to elect Congress members who will pass weak federal AI laws that override stronger state protections. I want to know: will [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] support AI safety regulations based on evidence and public interest, or will they follow the AI industry's preferred approach?
3
civic action
Support campaign finance transparency organizations
Organizations like OpenSecrets, Common Cause, and the Campaign Legal Center track political spending and advocate for transparency. Supporting them helps ensure the public can follow how AI industry money flows into politics.
OpenSecrets tracks PAC spending, lobbying expenditures, and campaign contributions. Their databases allow citizens to see which industries are spending the most to influence policy and which elected officials are receiving the most industry money.