A well-known, pro-AI super political action committee is behind a new group that plans to blast voters in key battleground states with ads advocating for data centers, several outlets are reporting.
That new group, called Build American AI, wants to convince citizens of the virtues of having data centers in their backyards. It says it is affiliated with Leading the Future (LTF), a super PAC heavily funded by VCs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, along with OpenAI President Greg Brockman.
Build American AI told Bloomberg it will focus its ads on Kansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin, where concerns about data centers have become a central theme in statewide elections. It said its ad budget is millions of dollars.
LTF launched with over $50 million in funding and has mostly used that money to donate to specific politicians, Politico reports. It supports candidates who advocate for AI, but it also works to oppose candidates who lobby against the technology, sources have told Politico.
LTF has become such a well-known, and not particularly beloved, force in AI-related election politics that OpenAI publicly distanced itself from it in a blog post in June.
“There have been questions around Leading the Future (LTF), which has received support from our President and co-founder, Greg Brockman, and his wife Anna,” OpenAI wrote. “OpenAI does not direct the activities of LTF, or have visibility into their operations.”
OpenAI also condemned some of LTF’s tactics, writing: “Groups that are advocating on AI should be clear about their policy views, be honest about whom they represent, and not use tactics like astroturfing that obscure the real choices facing policymakers and the public.” (Astroturfing means making a paid, organized campaign look like grassroots support.)
While LTF has gained attention in Silicon Valley, it is not the only super PAC pushing an AI agenda that is backed by big Valley names. Anthropic, for instance, is a known supporter of Public First Action, a group that backs AI regulation.
Meanwhile, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have been “spending on politics like no other” as The New York Times put it. By the outlet’s calculations, their venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz, is the biggest donor so far to the midterm elections, spending more than high-profile donors like Elon Musk and George Soros. The firm has spread over $115 million around so far in disclosed federal contributions. In addition to LTF and AI causes, it is also heavily supporting pro-crypto efforts, especially through the crypto super PAC Fairshake.
