20.
Groups favoring faster AI development and lighter, more uniform rules have spent roughly $8 million in general-election congressional races, compared with about $6.9 million from groups seeking stronger safeguards and more room for states to regulate.
About 74% of the total went to primaries.
In Florida's 25th District, the split is a direct matchup: Think Big, an affiliate of the Leading the Future super PAC network, backed Democrat Jared Moskowitz in the primary, while Defending Our Values spent about $857,000 to boost Republican Scott Singer and $740,000 against one of his primary opponents.
The two now face each other in November.
Fairshake and its allied super PACs spent more than $130 million in 2024, and candidates they supported won 53 of 58 races, according to CoinDesk.
Leading the Future launched in August 2025 with more than $100 million in commitments from backers including Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife Anna, and Joe Lonsdale.
Anthropic, meanwhile, committed $20 million to Public First Action in February and another $20 million in July, though it says that money is limited to policy and public education and cannot fund candidate elections.
The sharpest clash came in New York's 12th District Democratic primary, where Think Big spent $8.3 million against Alex Bores, author of a state AI safety law, and a rival PAC backed by Anthropic-linked groups spent about $15 million for him.
Bores lost to Micah Lasher, 39% to 35%.
Electing more allies could give either camp influence over AI policy in the next Congress, but the feud risks weakening the industry's collective clout.
Spending has slowed since the primaries. Leading the Future's network reported about $26 million in primary spending versus about $8 million in the general election, while safeguards-focused groups reported $32.1 million in primaries and $6.9 million this fall. Public opinion may be a factor: a CNBC All-America Economic Survey found 52% of registered voters want companies to pause advanced AI development until Congress passes regulations, versus 32% who favor moving ahead, and 63% would oppose an AI data center within 10 miles of their home. The Brockmans gave $25 million to Leading the Future but reportedly dropped plans for another $25 million, and groups it funded returned $25 million this summer, cutting a planned $65 million state-level push to about $40 million, according to The New York Times. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Politico that spending money on politics won't make people feel better about AI.
