Technology

So Much For ‘Leading The Future’: $100 Million Pro-AI Super PAC Whiffs On Risky Bets

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Jernej Furman from Slovenia, CC BY 2.0

One of the largest pro-artificial intelligence super PACs failed to deliver for its riskiest candidates in the midterm elections as a blue tsunami blanketed the country.

Leading the Future, a super PAC network backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, watched as most of the competitive candidates it backed lost their midterm races, but it saved the bulk of its contributions for candidates already expected to win, WIRED reported Wednesday. The super PAC supports candidates who advocate for a national AI framework, and its losses followed exit polling that showed 56 percent of American voters called AI and data centers “crucial” or “a major factor” in their election decisions.

While the PAC supported dozens of Republican and Democratic candidates who won their elections, it lost its bigger gambles, WIRED reported. Among the losses was South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who lost with 46.5 percent of the vote and had received over $2 million in support from American Mission, a super PAC part of Leading The Future’s network that supports Republicans.

Republicans Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s First Congressional District as well as Aaron Flint in Montana’s First Congressional District, both supported with over $500,000 from American Mission, lost to Democrat candidates, TechCrunch reported.

“They came out guns a-blazing, saying, ‘Be afraid, we are going to spend our millions to influence not only how lawmakers legislate us but also against you in your primaries and in your reelection,” Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, told Wired. Haworth argued the PAC sought to “intimidate [lawmakers] into not sticking their necks out on AI safety or tech industry regulation at all.”

The firm A16z launched the super PAC in August. It began with over $100 million behind it, garnering the support of Horowitz, Brockman, and other tech executives, Business Insider reported.

Leading the Future and OpenAI did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

The pro-AI super PAC announced on Sept. 16 it would invest $2 million and launch an ad campaign to support Republican candidates for the Senate in states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and South Dakota.

“Our new investment reflects the growing importance of the AI policy debate in America,” Zac Moffatt, the co-strategist for Leading the Future, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement in September. “We have an enormous opportunity to continue leading the world in AI by embracing innovation and advancing responsible policies that protect workers, families, and communities.”

Brockman backed out of an additional $25 million donation to the super PAC’s network in September, the New York Times reported.

Guardrails Alliance, an AI-critical group, spent over $1 million against California Rep. Jimmy Gomez and more than $1 million to oppose Flint, both of whom lost their races, TechCrunch reported.