Rival AI camps spend $23.3 million in one New York primary
A CNBC analysis tells that this sum is about 40% of the primary spending by the 2 camps in the US.
In the 2026 US election, 2 AI camps are in a fight. Think Big, a fund in the Leading the Future network, spent $8.3 million to defeat Alex Bores. Bores is a lawmaker in New York state who wrote an AI safety law. A fund that Anthropic backs spent about $15 million for Bores. Micah Lasher won the race by 39% to 35%.
How it works
Leading the Future started in August 2025 with more than $100 million promised. It copies the crypto industry plan: spend large sums to back candidates. Anthropic gave $20 million to Public First Action in February and $20 million more in July.
The numbers
The crypto group Fairshake spent more than $130 million in 2024. Candidates that it supported won 53 of 58 races, tells CoinDesk. In March, 3 candidates that American Mission backed won their Republican primaries.
What is not known
Anthropic tells that its money is only for policy and public education. It cannot fund candidates. But funds that are tied to Public First Action spend on almost the same aims. Sacha Haworth of the Tech Oversight Project tells that the AI industry wants to bully lawmakers.
Insight: A rival with money weakens the threat to spend against a lawmaker
The crypto plan was a threat: oppose us and we spend against you. Think Big spent $8.3 million against Bores. A fund that Anthropic backs gave about $15 million. This reads as a standoff, because a lawmaker who writes AI rules can at this time get money from the 2 sides. Look for more candidates with AI safety views in the next primaries.
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