AI PAC Independent Expenditures Tracker

$17.9M

Total independent expenditures tracked

34

Candidates targeted across 8 states

$30M+

Dark money from undisclosed donors

$4.3M

Most spent to target a single candidate*

$9.2M

$6.1M

$2.6M

$9.2M supporting Republicans

$6.1M supporting Democrats

$2.6M opposing Democrats

$10.7M

$1.9M

$5.3M

$10.7M Leading the Future (OpenAI/a16z/Palantir/Perplexity)

$1.9M Meta

$5.3M Public First / Anthropic (pro-safety)

01 Where the money lands

Hover or click a state or candidate to trace the money

Supporting Republicans

Supporting Democrats

Opposing Democrats

* The $5M in spending on FL-Gov (Donalds) is based on media reporting (NBC News) and is not yet confirmed via filed disclosures. It is excluded from the "most spent" figure above.

02 Follow the money

FEC filings Statements & media Relationship Support Oppose

Pro-AI / Big Tech

Leading the Future Network

The largest network — anchored by $50M from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz of a16z, $25M from OpenAI president Greg Brockman, with additional backing from Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Perplexity AI. Splits into Think Big (opposing/supporting Democrats) and American Mission (supporting Republicans), plus the dark-money arm Build American AI.

$10.7M in expenditures

Meta

Meta's spending spans Forge the Future (Texas state races), Making Our Tomorrow (Illinois), plus two dormant committees — American Tech Excellence ($45M) and META California ($20M).

$1.8M in expenditures

Pro-safety

Public First / Anthropic Network

Anthropic's $20M flows through Public First Action, a 501(c)(4) that also received $30M from undisclosed sources. The Super PAC arm funds Jobs & Democracy (Democrats) and Defending Our Values (Republicans).

$5.3M in expenditures

03 Recent filings

May 4

Think Big: $220K opposing Bores (NY-12) — cable ads ($180K) and SMS ($40K). TB spending opposing Bores now $2.6M

May 4

Jobs & Democracy: $70K digital ad buy supporting Poindexter (OH-07). J&D spending on Poindexter now $570K

Apr 29

American Mission: $262K supporting Gaines (GA-10) — new candidate, primary May 19. Trump-endorsed

Apr 30

Jobs & Democracy: $105K mailers supporting Bores (NY-12). J&D spending on Bores now $1.7M

Apr 30

Defending Our Values: $354K new spending supporting Mealer (TX-09) — digital ads ($326K), mailers ($20K), production ($8K). DV total for Mealer now $572K

Apr 28

Jobs & Democracy: $262K more for Bores (NY-12) — TV buy ($147K) and digital ($115K). J&D spending on Bores now $1.6M

Apr 23

Jobs & Democracy: $424K TV ad buy supporting Poindexter (OH-07) — new candidate, new state

Apr 22

American Mission: $960K supporting Kingston (GA-01) — first FEC filing for Kingston

Apr 21

Jobs & Democracy: $303K more for Bores (NY-12), J&D spending on Bores now $1.3M

Apr 19

Jobs & Democracy: $249K new spending supporting Bores (NY-12) — TV ad buy ($163K) and digital ads ($87K). PF network total now $994K

Apr 16

Q1 filings: J&D PAC funded $3.4M from Public First entities; DV PAC funded $2.15M by Public First Action. Jan Leike (Anthropic) gives $100K to each PAC. Other AI employees: Peter Lofgren (Anthropic) $5K, Matthew Fisher (Adobe) $1K

Apr 15

LTF files Q1 2026 report: a16z doubles down with second $25M (total $50M), LTF transfers $89K each to Think Big and American Mission. $95M+ total raised, $51M cash on hand.

Apr 11

Think Big: new FEC filings — $82K direct mail opposing Bores, $41K Jackson SMS, $27K Bean SMS

Apr 10

Jobs & Democracy: $261K new spending supporting Bores (NY-12) — TV buy, digital ads. J&D total for Bores now $745K

Apr 8

LTF backs 5 House Dems: Gottheimer (NJ-05), Liccardo (CA-16), Clarke (NY-09), Subramanyam (VA-10), Gomez (CA-34) — Politico

Apr 7

LTF announces $1.5M for Kingston (GA-01), Flint (MT-01), McGowan (IA-04) — Fox News

Apr 2

American Mission: $250K media placement supporting Fuller (GA-14), total now $687K

Mar 27

Think Big: $80K cable advertising opposing Bores (NY-12), total now $2.4M

Mar 20

American Mission files $437K supporting Fuller (GA-14) — new candidate, new state

Mar 16

Making Our Tomorrow adds $66K in digital ads & voter contact across 4 Illinois races

Mar 15

Think Big: $341K in digital & print ads opposing Bores (NY-12)

Mar 12

Think Big: $50K texting opposing Bores (NY-12)

Mar 11

American Mission: Sell (TX-19) support hits $579K with $278K media placement

Mar 11

Think Big: $278K digital media supporting Jackson Jr. (IL-02)

Mar 11

Making Our Tomorrow adds $60K in mailers across 4 Illinois races

Mar 11

LTF pledges $500K supporting Clay Fuller (GA-14) in special election runoff (AJC)

Mar 10

Making Our Tomorrow adds $47K in mailers and voter contact across 4 Illinois races

Mar 9

American Mission files $301K supporting Sell (TX-19) — new candidate

Mar 8

American Mission files $69K supporting Yarbrough (TX-32) — new candidate

Mar 6

Making Our Tomorrow adds $47K in digital ads across 4 Illinois races

Mar 7

J&D PAC retracts $1M in Jackson Jr. (IL-02) opposition spending — all line items amended to $0

Mar 5

Making Our Tomorrow adds $66K across 4 Illinois races

Mar 5

American Mission: Gober (TX-10) support hits $748K

Mar 5

J&D PAC: Bores (NY-12) support hits $484K

Feb 25

J&D PAC files $150K supporting Allred (TX-33)

Feb 23

Meta gives $1.37M to Forge the Future Project (Texas)

Feb 15

Defending Our Values files $251K TV buy supporting Ricketts (NE-Sen)

04 Spending over time

Leading the Future Meta Public First / Anthropic

How AI political spending works

Independent expenditures are political spending made to support or oppose a candidate without coordinating with the campaign. These groups spend money on ads, mailers, and other efforts — and under current law, there's no limit on the amounts.

A Super PAC can raise and spend unlimited money but must disclose donors. A 501(c)(4) "social welfare" nonprofit can also spend on elections but is not required to disclose funders. Several networks here use both: disclosed money flows into a Super PAC, while a 501(c)(4) acts as a pass-through, hiding the identity of some funders.

Dark money refers to political spending where the original funding source is hidden, typically through 501(c)(4) nonprofits. The clearest examples here are Public First ($30M from undisclosed sources) and Build American AI (entirely hidden donors).

This tracker is built from public filings with the FEC, the Texas Ethics Commission, and the Illinois State Board of Elections. 501(c)(4) spending may not appear for months, some state expenditures are reported only in bulk filings, and informal coordination only surfaces through investigative journalism. What appears here is a floor, not a ceiling.

Want to push back on AI money in politics? See the No Big AI Money Pledge

Data sources. Federal data from FEC API and e-filings. Texas data from TEC. Illinois data from IL SBE (Committee 41081). Amounts reflect most recent filings as of date shown. Reporting sources. Entity connections and fundraising totals not in public filings drawn from NYT, POLITICO, Axios, and other outlets. Donalds FL-Gov spending reported by NBC News (Feb 12). Methodology. Tracks independent expenditure committees and state PACs with financial ties to major AI companies. "Support" and "Oppose" reflect committees' own filings. Purple dotted lines indicate organizational relationships, not direct financial flows.