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Leading the Future, OpenAI-Linked Super PAC Network, Held Back on Contested General Election Races, Intercept Analysis of FEC Data Says

Bot Mutiny | October 29, 2026

The largest AI super PAC network, Leading the Future, has held back from spending on competitive general election races in the 2026 midterms, according to an analysis by The Intercept of Federal Election Commission records and independent race ratings, published Oct. 29, 2026. The Intercept reports that only 5 percent of AI super PACs' direct expenditures have gone to contested general election races. It also reports that Leading the Future has routed more than $30 million through newly created Delaware corporations. It says Leading the Future was funded in large part by an executive at or investors in OpenAI. Leading the Future did not respond to The Intercept's request for comment.

Primary spending versus the general election

The Intercept reports that the two leading AI super PAC networks, Leading the Future and Public First, spent $50.7 million in the primaries, according to campaign finance records. Of that, $21.3 million went to supporting or opposing a single congressional candidate, Alex Bores, in the Democratic primary for New York's 12th Congressional District. Bores, a New York State Assembly member who authored an AI regulation bill in the state legislature, lost to Micah Lasher in June. Bores told The Intercept that the spending "really served to elevate the issue of AI."

For the general election, the picture is different, according to the analysis. Leading the Future had spent $7.4 million on general election races as of Oct. 26, while reporting $34 million in cash on hand across its network as of its most recent report. By the analytics site FiftyPlusOne's measure, 31 percent of that has gone toward competitive races. The Intercept reports that the only reason the network has spent money on competitive general election races at all is that it is backing U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who faces a challenge from a Democrat.

Public First, the rival network, had spent nothing on general election races until a few days ago and had spent $1.1 million as of the morning of Oct. 26, per FEC data processed by The Intercept. Public First says it supports tighter regulation than its rival. Its donors include Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who gave $1 million, according to The Intercept. The Intercept adds that Anthropic has given a nonprofit associated with Public First millions of dollars, stipulating that the money cannot be used on elections.

A Public First spokesperson, Anthony Rivera-Rodriguez, told The Intercept that the group is still trying to support "strong advocates for AI regulation." The spokesperson said: "Leading the Future is going dark. Its biggest backers are walking away."

Why observers say the networks pulled back

The Intercept quotes campaign finance and industry observers who say the networks misjudged public sentiment. "Essentially these companies underestimated how much the public despises the data center buildout, and the inescapability of AI systems that no one asked for that say they will automate jobs and maybe kill us all," said Rick Claypool, a research director at Public Citizen, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog.

The Intercept also cites a Data for Progress poll of more than 3,000 likely voters in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio that was commissioned by Guardrails Alliance, a rival super PAC pushing tougher AI regulation. According to The Intercept, about three-quarters of those surveyed are less likely to support a candidate they know has received support from an AI super PAC.

The Delaware corporations and the Campaign Legal Center complaint

The Intercept reports that Leading the Future has routed more than $30 million of its spending through newly created Delaware corporations, which accounted for most of the network's expenses this year. American Mission, its Republican-side affiliate, has reported spending $17.4 million since December through a Delaware limited liability company called Summit Ridge Media Group, on services ranging from media placement to ad production to consulting, according to The Intercept. Think Big, its Democratic-side affiliate, has spent $21.3 million through a different Delaware corporation, Lantern Production Consultants, on a similarly wide range of expenses.

The watchdog Campaign Legal Center alleged in a complaint filed in May that the practice violates FEC requirements to disclose which consultants, pollsters and advertisers a campaign organization pays. Shanna Ports, a senior legal counsel at the group, told The Intercept the wide mix of expenses suggests the corporations may be hiding the true vendors. "It is possible that the vendors who are working with American Mission and Think Big don't want to be identified in FEC reports," Ports said.

Leading the Future has previously defended its tactics as legal in a statement to Wired, according to The Intercept. The Intercept reports that the FEC currently lacks the quorum it needs to act on complaints such as the Campaign Legal Center's.

Funding and what is not established

The Intercept reports that OpenAI president Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna Brockman, donated $25 million to the Leading the Future network last year. The Intercept disclosed that it sued OpenAI in federal court in 2024 over the company's use of copyrighted articles to train ChatGPT, and that the case is ongoing.

The Intercept's account does not establish that any law was broken. The explanations for the networks' spending choices come from outside observers and rivals, not from the networks. The Intercept notes there is still time for a last-minute flurry of spending before next week's general election.