A final scorecard for the two big AI super PACs:
Public First spent ~$63 million boosting 17 candidates. Ten are coming to Congress.
Leading the Future spent ~$54m on 48 candidates. 41 - most in safe seats - were elected.
AI safety won the day.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Overwhelming losses across the board for big money in politics tonight:
-Brown’s victory despite crypto industry opposition
-Talarico’s victory despite deluge of GOP super PAC/Elon Musk spending
-Graham’s loss despite millions in data center industry support
etc
Jared Moskowitz’s win in FL-25 is a loss for AI safety super PAC Public First, which spent over $1.6 million boosting his opponent Republican Scott Singer.
The Andreessen Horowitz-backed Leading the Future network spent over $300k to boost Moskowitz, who they see as an ally.
This is only part of the story. If you include the ad spending from Public First and Leading the Futures' nonprofit arms (Public First Action and Build American AI), it's much tighter - with the most recent #s, by my count, ~$53mil from the LTF network and ~50mil from AI safety.
AI safety super PAC Guardrails Alliance continues to receive the bulk of its funding - over $1.8 million this year -- from its dark money group, according to the latest filing.
Interesting donation from filings yesterday: the conservative group Alliance for a Better Future, which advocates for stricter AI guardrails, gave $1 million to Trump's MAGA Inc. in September, highlighting the growing financial power of the AI safety movement.
Sports gambling super PAC Win for America reported another $9.65mil from the companies behind DraftKings, Fanatics and Bet365 in the latest quarter, adding up to a total of $79.65 million raised this year. They spent most of it on Rs and Ds in state-level races.
New: Clean energy super PAC Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, backed by ~$10mil from Larsen, helped oust multiple Republicans opposed renewable energy tax credits.
Next, the PAC plans to oppose progressive/DSA-aligned Democrats. No targets identified yet.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
1
1
367
New: Billionaire Chris Larsen was incensed by crypto super PAC Fairshake's decision to spend $30 million against Sherrod Brown.
He's disagreeing publicly with Fairshake, which is heavily backed by his crypto company Ripple.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
For those who care: I've heard speculation that Dustin Moskovitz helped to fund super PAC Public First. In reporting this, I was told Moskovitz has not given to Public First Action or Public First. Their $83 mil does NOT include giving from him.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The creation of AI billionaire super PAC Leading the Future helped mobilize a rival network of wealthy donors pushing for AI safeguards.
On the rise of a new donor class, including over $10 million in hard-dollar donations and over $85 million raised:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Some tidbits:
-The AI Policy Network is helping to organize and advise political giving, including outreach to donors on Wall Street and in the Bay area.
-Anthropic employees have given over $8 million in individual donations, proving collective power.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
1
306
I'm spending the next six weeks embedded with Bloomberg's Wealth team, which covers how billionaires spend their money. I'll be laser-focused on the midterms.
Interested in chatting with political donor advisors, campaign consultants, and anyone else who works in fundraising!
An unreal scene right outside of the White House: pro Palestine protestors opposing Netanyahu’s visit have blocked off a major roadway (16th and I) at the height of rush hour and police have created a barricade during a massive downpour.
NVIDIA CEO @JensenHuang to reporters in the Senate: “We need open weight [AI models] for security. The race for AI is for every company and every industry in America to adopt AI as quickly as possible. It's really about the diffusion of the technology into the economy.”
The company behind prediction markets platform Polymarket gave $10,000 to Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for Ohio governor. Ramaswamy was an early prediction markets booster.
A growing number of federal + gubernatorial candidates are running ads focused on their opposition to data centers.
The trend is especially acute among Republicans, who are using anti-data center messaging as a proxy for being "anti-establishment."
My deep dive 👇
The AI safety super PAC Jobs and Democracy spent a whopping $15 million boosting Alex Bores in NY-12, outstripping the Andreessen Horowitz/Greg Brockman-backed Think Big by ~$7 million, according to the latest filings.
Think Big spent over $8mil opposing Bores.
I don't do non-professional tweets anymore but coming out of hibernation to say Olivia Rodrigo's new album is perfect🥰
3
315
.@sama says that he would like to see money out of politics.
He said he does NOT plan to make any political donations this cycle.
But he added: If OpenAI’s competitors are “trying to use money to gang up on us, we have to be able to fight back.”