OpenAI and Anthropic spend $55.7M on midterm races to shape AI policy

The divide between the two labs is policy, not party. OpenAI-aligned groups push for fewer AI guardrails to accelerate development, while Anthropic-backed groups advocate for stricter regulation. Both aim to elect candidates who will favor their industry’s interests. In North Carolina, an Anthropic-backed PAC spent $1.6 million to help Rep. Valerie Foushee win a tight primary after she was named co-chair of a Democratic AI commission. In New York, an OpenAI-aligned group spent $1.1 million to defeat a lawmaker who proposed AI regulations. The spending has drawn criticism from candidates like Utah’s Nate Blouin, who lost a primary after receiving $1 million in AI-backed support. “They’re spending millions on things unrelated to AI,” Blouin said, “but they’re getting what they want.”