Project Liberty Substack
Ads funded by the AI industry are starting to flood the 2026 midterm elections. Super PACs affiliated with two factions of the AI industry are pumping millions of dollars into 2026 primaries, backing and attacking candidates based on where they stand on AI regulation.
But instead of only making the case for or against AI oversight, these groups are leaning into other hot-button issues (and they’re starting to win). The result is a fight over whether, how, and where AI gets regulated.
“We know AI isn’t the first thing on every voter’s mind when they go to the polls. They’re worried about the cost of living, about corruption, about whether the economy is working for regular people or just for tech billionaires. We believe those concerns are inseparable from AI,” said Brad Carson, the former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma and Defense Department official who helps lead Public First, a new bipartisan AI super PAC.
In this newsletter, we spoke to Carson in an effort to understand how super PACs aimed at shaping AI policy are influencing 2026 midterm elections.
