AI Companies Are Spending $125 Million on Elections. Their Ads Never Mention AI.

Two of the biggest AI companies in the world are spending over $125 million to shape the 2026 midterm elections.

OpenAI is backing one side. Anthropic is backing the other. Between them, they’ve built a network of super PACs that spans both parties, targets key races across the country, and could determine how AI gets regulated for the next decade.

There’s just one catch: their ads never mention artificial intelligence.

The Shadow Campaign

If you live in New York’s 12th District, North Carolina’s Research Triangle, or parts of Texas and Illinois, you’ve probably seen the ads. They talk about immigration enforcement, healthcare, corruption, and Donald Trump.

What they don’t mention is that they’re paid for by AI billionaires who want to decide who writes the rules for their industry.

On one side: Leading the Future, bankrolled by OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. They had $39 million in the bank at the end of 2025, with a target of $100 million. Their goal: block strict AI regulation and push for a single federal framework that would override state-level rules.

On the other side: Public First, funded by Anthropic (the company behind Claude) with at least $20 million. Co-founded by former members of Congress from both parties. Their goal: elect candidates who support AI oversight and guardrails.

Both networks run paired super PACs, one targeting Democrats, one targeting Republicans. Leading the Future operates through “Think Big” and “American Mission.” Public First runs “Jobs and Democracy PAC” and “Defending Our Values.”

It’s bipartisan influence, by design.

Ground Zero: New York

The most revealing race is in New York, where state legislator Alex Bores is running for Congress. Bores is the architect of New York’s Responsible AI Safety Act, one of the most aggressive state-level AI regulation bills in the country.

Leading the Future has spent over $1.5 million attacking him. Not for his AI regulation work. The ads hit him for his former employer Palantir’s contracts with ICE. The irony: Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale is one of Leading the Future’s backers.

Public First countered with $450,000 supporting Bores, but their ads focused on healthcare and accountability, not AI policy.

Brad Carson, who leads Public First, explained the strategy bluntly: “We know AI isn’t the first thing on every voter’s mind when they go to the polls.”

Why They’re Really Fighting

This isn’t about immigration or healthcare. It’s about one question: who gets to regulate AI?

Right now, a patchwork of state laws is emerging across the country. California, Colorado, New York, and others have proposed or passed their own AI rules covering everything from bias testing to transparency requirements.

The industry, especially the companies behind Leading the Future, wants to stop that. They want a single federal framework, which historically tends to be weaker and harder to update. State laws, they argue, create a compliance nightmare.

Companies behind Public First want regulation too, but on their terms. Anthropic’s co-founder Jack Clark has said they’re working on “a broader super PAC strategy to ensure that pro-regulation candidates have the resources to win.”

Read that again. Both sides want to pick the regulators. They just disagree on how tight the leash should be.

Meanwhile, Your Electric Bill Is Going Up

While AI companies fight over Washington, something more immediate is happening in communities across America: data centers are driving up electricity costs.

A single data center can consume as much power as 100,000 households. As AI companies race to build more of them, the strain on local power grids is real. Goldman Sachs projects electricity prices will rise 6% through 2026 and another 3% by 2028, driven largely by data center demand.

The backlash is growing fast. There are now 142 activist groups across 24 states organizing against data center construction. Roughly $64 billion in planned developments have been blocked or delayed by community opposition. Microsoft abandoned plans for a data center in Caledonia, Wisconsin after local resistance grew too strong.

And the politics are stranger than fiction. Bernie Sanders and Ron DeSantis have found common ground as leading skeptics of AI data centers. Republican senators Josh Hawley, Katie Britt, and Marsha Blackburn are demanding tougher AI regulation, contradicting their own party’s leadership.

Nearly 60% of voters believe AI data centers contribute to higher electricity costs. It’s becoming a kitchen-table issue, the kind that decides elections.

The White House Responds (Sort Of)

The Trump administration, which has championed AI development, is feeling the pressure. In March 2026, the White House gathered leading AI and tech companies to sign a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” promising that data center growth wouldn’t raise electricity costs for families.

It’s a voluntary commitment. The electricity price forecasts haven’t changed.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, local opposition has already blocked several major projects. In Georgia, Democrats secured their first utility commission seats since 2007, riding a wave of voter anger over data center impacts. In Virginia, data centers became a defining issue in the governor’s race.

What This Means for You

Here’s the picture: AI companies are spending $125 million to shape elections. Their ads don’t mention AI. Communities are fighting data centers that raise their power bills. And the political battle over AI regulation doesn’t follow traditional left-right lines.

This is what the AI debate looks like in 2026. It’s not about whether the technology is impressive (it is). It’s about who controls it, who profits from it, and who pays the costs.

A few things to keep in mind:

Follow the money. When you see a political ad, check who paid for it. Organizations like OpenSecrets track super PAC spending. The AI industry is now one of the biggest spenders in American politics.

Watch your utility bills. If a data center is planned near your community, pay attention to what it means for your electricity rates, water usage, and local infrastructure. Ask your representatives where they stand.

Don’t mistake ads for advocacy. When AI companies spend millions on ads about immigration and healthcare, those ads aren’t really about immigration and healthcare. They’re about making sure the people who write AI regulations are friendly to the industry.

The 2026 midterms could set the rules for AI for the next decade. The companies building this technology know that. The question is whether voters do too.