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AI: Jobs, Power & Money
15MAY

AI super PACs spend $150m on primaries

3 min read
15:55UTC

The $100m Leading the Future PAC, backed by OpenAI's Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz, spent against regulation-minded candidates in the 2 June primaries; a $50m counter-PAC has formed.

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Key takeaway

AI-industry and pro-regulation PACs are spending $150m to shape who wins the primaries.

The $100 million Leading the Future super PAC, backed by Greg Brockman of OpenAI, the venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Joe Lonsdale, contested the primaries held on Tuesday 2 June 2026, spending against regulation-minded candidates in California and Montana races 1. The committee has committed over $100 million to the 2026 midterms and is lined up for the 27 June Louisiana runoff. A $50 million counter-PAC, Public First, has formed to back pro-regulation candidates, bringing combined spending on the question to $150 million.

Primaries are cheaper to influence than general elections and draw far lower turnout, so a relatively small sum can pick favourable nominees before the wider electorate engages. Leading the Future is run in part by a former crypto super-PAC operative reusing the 2024 playbook that flooded primaries early to lock in friendly candidates. The same fight that has stalled in Congress is being settled at the nomination stage instead.

The spending tracks the policy. As state bills such as California's SB 951 advance the case for AI-displacement rules , the industry is contesting the legislators who would write and vote on them. The $150 million committed on both sides signals that the participants expect AI labour policy to be decided in statehouses and primary ballots rather than on the Senate floor, and they are funding the contest accordingly.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

A super PAC is a political fund that can raise and spend unlimited money to influence elections, as long as it does not directly coordinate with a candidate. Two super PACs are now competing in the 2026 US midterm elections over AI regulation. Leading the Future, backed by OpenAI's co-founder Greg Brockman and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has committed over $100 million to defeat candidates who favour regulating AI. In the 2 June primaries it targeted candidates in California and Montana who had backed AI worker-protection bills. A rival group called Public First has formed with $50 million to back the candidates Leading the Future is trying to unseat. The combined $150 million makes the 2026 midterms the most heavily funded AI-regulation election fight in US history. The result will shape whether state-level bills like California's SB 951 can advance through legislatures elected partly on AI-industry money.

What could happen next?
  • Risk

    If Leading the Future defeats even a third of its 2026 primary targets, the legislative path for federal AI workforce measurement funding and state-level displacement notice bills narrows significantly through 2027.

Sources:FierceBiotech
Mentions:OpenAI →Joe Lonsdale →Louisiana →Montana →SB 951 →California →Fairshake →Cato Institute →GZERO Media →Andreessen Horowitz →Leading the Future →Greg Brockman →Public First Action →
First Reported In

Update #12 · Jobs report says fine, layoff report says no

FierceBiotech· 8 Jun 2026
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Causes and effects
This Event
AI super PACs spend $150m on primaries
The venue for AI labour policy has moved from the Senate floor to the primary ballot, where cheap, low-turnout races decide who reaches November.
Led to
California bill sets 90-day AI layoff notice
Leading the Future PAC's primary spending against regulation-minded candidates directly targets the legislators who could advance or block California SB 951 and SB 947.
Occurred 6 Jun 2026
Read story →
Washington pulls a live AI model
The Leading the Future vs Public First PAC split frames the political irony of the export directive: the lab that backed regulation is the first one hit.
Occurred 12 Jun 2026
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OpenAI heads to market losing money
The OpenAI camp backed the anti-regulation PAC; OpenAI's IPO filing is the parallel corporate action in the same period.
Occurred 9 Jun 2026
Read story →
Different Perspectives
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India IT services and global capability centre workforce
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EU workers and European labour institutions
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Anthropic and frontier AI labs subject to US jurisdiction
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