{"slug": "dems-want-to-regulate-ai-but-will-ai-money-divide-them", "title": "Dems Want to Regulate AI. But Will AI Money Divide Them?", "summary": "Leading the Future, the largest pro-AI political action committee, has intervened in 15 Democratic primaries through its sub-PAC Think Big, according to Federal Elections Commission filings and the watchdog group Guardrails Action, as Democrats press for new artificial intelligence regulation. Leading the Future is funded by OpenAI president Greg Brockman, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, while rival PAC Public First Action — founded by former Democratic Representative Brad Carson and former Republican Representative Chris Stewart — received a $40 million donation from Anthropic this year. The spending fight follows an Anthropic researcher's public resignation post saying colleagues believe AI \"could kill us all by the end of the decade\" and Anthropic's disclosure that it thwarted a series of attempts by suspected state-sponsored groups, financially motivated criminals, and politically motivated individuals to use its models to develop biological weapons.", "body_md": "*You’re reading The TNR Blue Book. Get daily scoops, strategy, and developments inside the liberal ideas factory delivered right to your inbox. **[Sign up for free](https://newsletter.tnr.com/f/40).***\n\n**Dems want to regulate AI. But will AI money divide them?**\n\nDemocrats are loudly demanding new artificial intelligence regulation after an Anthropic researcher publicly announced his resignation this week with a social media post saying his colleagues believe AI “could kill us all by the end of the decade.” On Thursday, another Anthropic news item threw fuel on the fire: The company [announced](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yjja) that it had [discovered and thwarted](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yjjq) a “series” of attempts by “suspected state-sponsored groups, financially motivated criminals, and politically motivated individuals” to use its AI models to develop biological weapons.\n\nNow, as some Dems call for immediate action, the question isn’t just whether the party will hold the power to do something in January—it’s also whether the new Congress could be hampered by the role of pro-AI money in politics.\n\nThe biggest player in the AI PAC world is Leading the Future, which is [funded](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yjk8) by OpenAI president **Greg** **Brockman**, venture capitalists **Marc** **Andreessen** and **Ben** **Horowitz**, and **Joe** **Lonsdale**, the co-founder of Palantir.\n\nThe other major AI PAC is Public First Action, which was founded by former Democratic Representative **Brad** **Carson** and former Republican Representative **Chris** **Stewart** to act as a counterweight to Leading the Future. Anthropic is a major funder of the group, and [donated $40 million](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yjkK) to it this year. “This is too important a conversation to let a few billionaires decide the future of AI in our country and put profits over people,” **Anthony Rivera-Rodriguez**, a spokesperson for Public First Action, told *The New Republic.* “We exist to advocate for public safeguards in this debate.” \n\nOther tech sectors, notably the cryptocurrency industry, pour money into politics as well. There’s some overlap between the interests of pro-AI and pro-cryto PACs like Fairshake.\n\nWhile both groups are funded by the AI industry, campaign finance reform advocates say there are crucial differences. “If I had my druthers, none of these PACs would exist,” said **Colin** **McGlynn**, the AI policy adviser at Demand Progress Action. “But given that we’re stuck with the Supreme Court we have for now, that we’re not going to get that kind of money out of politics, I definitely prefer that there be some money on the side of being ready to regulate AI,” he said, referring to Public First Action’s stated goal to support AI regulation.\n\nSo far, Leading the Future’s Democratic sub-PAC, called Think Big, has intervened in 15 Democratic primaries, according to Federal Elections Commission filings and the watchdog group Guardrails Action. The candidates they’ve supported include: **Ritchie** **Torres**, **Marilyn** **Strickland**, **Greg** **Stanton**, **Jimmy** **Panetta**, **Joseph** **Morelle**, **Robert** **Menendez**, **Jared** **Moskowitz**, **Dan** **Koh**, **Ben \nMcAdams**, **Jesse** **Jackson** **Jr.**, **Valerie** **Hoyle**, **Yvette** **Clarke**, **Melissa** **Bean**, and **Jeremy** **Moss**.\n\nNotably, Think Big spent millions to [oppose **Alex** **Bores**’s campaign](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yki8) for New York’s 12th congressional district. Bores authored [New York’s RAISE Act](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykiK), which requires frontier AI labs to publish information about their safety protocols and disclose any safety breaches. Jobs and Democracy PAC, an affiliate of Public First Action, jumped in to support Bores, but he ultimately lost his race.\n\nThink Big has also offered endorsements (but not financial support) to **Sam** **Liccardo**, **Josh** **Gottheimer**, **Jimmy** **Gomez**, **Tom** **Suozzi**, **Eric** **Sorensen**, **Joyce** **Beatty**, **Herb** **Conaway**, **Emilia** **Sykes**, and **Suhas** **Subramanyam**.\n\nOf those, a few names stand out: Gottheimer is a co-chair of the House Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy, a group launched by Minority Leader **Hakeem** **Jeffries** late last year. Meanwhile, Subramanyam is a co-sponsor of the FRONTIER Act.\n\nBesides Bores, Public First Action and its Jobs and Democracy PAC has spent money on candidates like **Colin** **Allred**, **Valerie** **Foushee**, [** Brian** **Poindexter**](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykia), **Scott** **Weiner**, and **Bob** **Brooks**. Alongside Representatives **Greg** **Casar** and **Sara** **Jacobs**, Foushee last month [introduced a bill](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykiq) to prevent mass unemployment due to AI.\n\nIn sharp contrast to Leading the Future, Public First Action explicitly supports state and local AI legislation, and says [on its website](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykj8) that it “opposes federal efforts to freeze state progress without adequate federal safeguards.” That could put the group at odds with the FRONTIER Act, which [critics say](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykjK) preempts states’ abilities to regulate AI.\n\nThough the groups have spent massive sums of money in the 2026 midterms, experts say they think the power of AI interests could decrease soon. Polling shows that Americans are desperate for AI regulation; [65 percent of Americans surveyed](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykja) earlier this year said the government had done “too little” to regulate AI. Anger over data centers and AI has become a talking point in races across the country.\n\n“I absolutely think that the anger about data centers and other AI overreach is going to be part of what powers the next generation of reform on money in politics,” said **Abigail** **Bellows**, the senior policy director for anti-corruption and accountability at Common Cause.\n\nMcGlynn agrees that Leading the Future is in a weaker position than they were at the beginning of 2026. “They started out with the crypto strategy of spend big and early to scare people into line,” he said, referring to the strategy of crypto PACs like Fairshake in 2024 and 2026. But now that voters are animated by data centers and AI, “they’re kind of on the back foot now, and we’ve seen them basically stop spending recently. I think they’re trying to come up with new strategies.”\n\nSome lawmakers are already taking action, suggesting the [formation of a select committee](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykjq) on artificial intelligence and, in the case of Senator **Bernie** **Sanders**, [holding briefings](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ykk8) on the dangers of AI. It remains to be seen what strategies the AI industry might take come January to influence any legislation the new Congress might consider.\n\n*—Emma Janssen*\n\nThe anti-Flock backlash continues. In Ohio, Democratic state lawmakers **Tristan** **Rader** and **Darnell** **Brewer** and Republicans **Levi** **Dean** and \n\nIn case you missed it: ProPublica’s **Andrea** **Suozzo** and **Agnel** **Philip** this week [find](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yliq) in a striking new report that deaths from ectopic pregnancy doubled in the period from 2020 to 2025 as compared to the prior six years—and that “while the uptick in ectopic deaths occurred nationwide, the climb has been much steeper in states that banned abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.” Troublingly, they note, “the mounting deaths in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data have drawn little scrutiny or response”: The reporters contacted “more than a dozen maternal health experts, including leaders in the field, who were unaware of the spike.”\n\n*—Heather Souvaine Horn*\n\nAt the centrist **Progressive Policy Institute**, **Richard D. Kahlenberg** and **Lief** **Lin** pen a [new report](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ylj8) on “Teaching American Democracy,” probing “where civics [education] went wrong” and how to “revitalize” it. One of the recommendations: “All states should require three years of American Democracy, just as they typically require three years in math and reading. Helping all students understand who we are as Americans and why,” Kahlenberg and Lin write, “is of enormous importance in a country where liberal democratic norms are under steady attack—as important as literacy and numeracy.”\n\nNext Tuesday at 10 a.m., the **Brookings** **Institution** will host an [event](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yljK) exploring “whether industry, community, and government can ever get closer to agreement on data centers.” Participants include Representative **Suhas** **Subramanyam** of Virginia, NAACP director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice **Abre’ Conner**, **Elena** **Schlossberg** of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, Groundswell CEO **Michelle** **Moore**, and Tuckahoe Creek Strategies founder **Marie** **Sylla-Dixon**. Brookings Center for Technology Innovation director **Nicol** **Turner** **Lee** will moderate.\n\n**Good Week/Bad Week**\n\nGood Week: The Washington Sun\n\nLike a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, the media operation formerly known as NOTUS has [morphed](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13ylja) into its final form as The Washington Sun. The outlet has made a strong showing in recent years, publishing keenly written stories, hoovering up local journalistic talent, and filling the yawning gap left by *The Washington Post* as it pivoted from news to cut-rate right-wing opinion goulash and unwatchable podcasts hosted by dweebs. \n\nBad Week: Hey, maybe everyone, who knows?\n\nWas Jacob Coxon’s [announcement](https://newsletter.tnr.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE2IISi5XB70NtFgxRuAn_Sk_AkwuoyY5Q5Jnei5HCtz0y7xeFs3HypiEA0_ueglPHHJ3ic95_.0N-YVvFy13yljq) that Anthropic’s AI models were destined to wipe out humanity within a decade a genuine cry for help, or a personal-branding stunt, or a marketing gimmick? It’s impossible to say. Still, not great to have a trillion-dollar industry barreling into a future it doesn’t understand and cannot explain that’s this good at keeping us awake at night.\n\n*—Jason Linkins*\n\n **Political Trivia Question of the Day**\n\nOn this opening week of the NFL season: A number of former NFL players have gone on to careers in politics. Mostly, they’re Republican, but there have been at least two recent Democrats. Name one. ([Sign up for The TNR Blue Book](https://newsletter.tnr.com/f/43) to find the answer in Tuesday’s newsletter.)\n\n*—Michael Tomasky*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/dems-want-to-regulate-ai-but-will-ai-money-divide-them", "canonical_source": "https://newrepublic.com/post/215341/anthropic-ai-regulate-money-extinction", "published_at": "2026-09-11 17:43:06+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-11 19:19:09.563408+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-safety", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Leading the Future", "Think Big", "Public First Action", "Anthropic", "OpenAI", "Greg Brockman", "Marc Andreessen", "Ben Horowitz"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/dems-want-to-regulate-ai-but-will-ai-money-divide-them", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/dems-want-to-regulate-ai-but-will-ai-money-divide-them.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/dems-want-to-regulate-ai-but-will-ai-money-divide-them.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/dems-want-to-regulate-ai-but-will-ai-money-divide-them.jsonld"}}