Silicon Valley Drops $100M+ Bomb on 2026 Elections to Crush AI Regulation

Tech giants unleash nine-figure war chest to dominate AI policy battles.

The Spending Spree

Silicon Valley's lobbying machine just went nuclear—pouring over $100 million into the 2026 electoral arena. This isn't grassroots campaigning; it's a calculated strike against regulatory frameworks threatening to rein in artificial intelligence development. The move signals an industry preparing to fight tooth and nail against what it perceives as innovation-stifling bureaucracy.

The Political Endgame

This massive cash injection targets key races where AI regulation hangs in the balance. We're seeing strategic investments in congressional districts and states where tech policy gets decided. The message is clear: either vote with Silicon Valley's vision of deregulated AI, or face well-funded opposition in your next election cycle.

The Regulatory Battlefield

Opponents call it regulatory capture on steroids—a blatant attempt to buy policy outcomes. Supporters argue it's necessary defense against technophobic lawmakers who don't understand the technology they're trying to regulate. Either way, this financial firepower could reshape the entire AI governance landscape for years to come.

Because nothing says 'ethical innovation' like writing nine-figure checks to politicians—the VCs must be so proud of this 'disruptive' approach to democracy.

Leading the Future attacks regulation and funds campaigns in 4 states

The team behind Leading the Future includes Josh Vlasto and Zac Moffatt, two longtime political operatives now acting as the group’s frontmen. Both men released a joint statement blasting those calling for slower AI development, saying:

“There is a vast force out there that’s looking to slow down AI deployment, prevent the American worker from benefiting from the U.S. leading in global innovation and job creation and erect a patchwork of regulation.”

They say this new network will be the “counterforce” to that. The group says it won’t push for total AI deregulation, but it wants “guardrails” that don’t get in the way of innovation. What they really mean is they want control over what those guardrails look like.

Leading the Future plans to target four battleground states: California, New York, Illinois, and Ohio. These states are seen as the next big fights in AI policy, and the PAC wants to plant its flag early. Campaign work is expected to start before the end of this year.

Crypto playbook shapes Silicon Valley’s AI strategy

This entire setup borrows heavily from the crypto industry’s recent political wins. The group is trying to copy Fairshake, the crypto-focused super-PAC that spent millions last year to support candidates who backed the first real crypto laws in the U.S. and crush ones who didn’t.

Fairshake played a key role in defeating Senator Sherrod Brown, who was one of the loudest crypto critics. Brown’s running again next year, and it wouldn’t be surprising if both Fairshake and Leading the Future go after him again.

Josh now works with Fairshake, so the blueprint is familiar. Silicon Valley doesn’t want AI to become the next industry buried in red tape. That’s why crypto bros and AI bros are now working from the same political playbook; get the right people elected, and your problems go away.

This new PAC will support both Democrats and Republicans, depending on who plays nice with AI. The money will FLOW through a network of federal and state-level PACs, plus a 501(c)(4) group for issue-based advocacy that doesn’t need to follow campaign finance limits. It’s a structure built for maximum flexibility and maximum influence.

The group is expected to align with David Sacks, who has been loud in his criticism of so-called “AI doomers,” and Leading the Future reportedly supports that same anti-doomer energy.

Marc Andreessen, the billionaire co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, is backing the group financially. Marc made headlines last year when he flipped from supporting Democrats to endorsing President Trump.

That shift reflects what’s been happening all over Silicon Valley lately: more tech money moving to the right. That has rattled some Democrats, who now worry they’re losing ground with donors they once considered allies.

Greg Brockman, who helped launch OpenAI alongside Sam Altman, is all in on this project. Greg and his wife, Anna Brockman, are both backing the PAC. They even got married inside OpenAI’s office during a regular workday, which tells you everything you need to know about their priorities.

Other names throwing money behind the campaign include Joe Lonsdale, managing partner at 8VC and co-founder of Palantir, Perplexity, the AI-powered search startup, and Ron Conway, a longtime angel investor with DEEP ties in tech.

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