支持和反对人工智能产业的政治团体在周二的中期选举中花费数百万美元试图施加影响，并塑造人工智能监管的未来。这些支出收效不一，一些获得最多资金支持的候选人落选。
Political groups both supporting and opposing the AI industry spent millions of dollars trying to influence Tuesday’s midterm elections and shape the future of AI regulation. That spending produced mixed results, with some of the most heavily backed candidates losing their races.
在产业界方面，两个专注于人工智能的政治行动委员会（PAC）——American Mission和Building the Future——筹集并花费资金以影响选举，共同斥资480万美元支持南卡罗来纳州参议员候选人达琳·格雷厄姆，后者落选。American Mission是更广泛的政治团体Leading the Future（LTF）的共和党支出分支，该团体由OpenAI总裁格雷格·布罗克曼和风投公司Andreessen Horowitz支持。
On the industry side, two AI-focused political action committees (PACs) that raised and spent money to influence the elections — American Mission and Building the Future — collectively spent $4.8 million to back South Carolina Senate candidate Darlene Graham, who lost. American Mission is the Republican spending arm of Leading the Future (LTF), a broader political group backed by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz.
American Mission还分别花费超过50万美元支持蒙大拿州共和党众议员候选人亚伦·弗林特和北卡罗来纳州共和党众议员候选人劳里·巴克豪特，两人均落选。LTF的民主党支出分支Think Big在支持佛罗里达州众议员贾里德·莫斯科维茨方面运气更好，后者成功连任。
American Mission also spent more than $500,000 apiece supporting Republican House candidates Aaron Flint in Montana and Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina, both of whom lost. LTF’s Democratic spending arm, Think Big, had better luck backing Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who won reelection.
主张加强人工智能安全护栏的团体也收效不一。由Anthropic支持的Public First通过其关联的PAC支持了几位落选的共和党人，但在支持民主党候选人方面更为成功。截至发稿时，该团体还向支持加利福尼亚州参议员斯科特·维纳的一个PAC捐款300万美元，维纳在其竞选中处于领先地位。
Groups advocating for stronger AI safeguards also saw mixed results. Public First, which is backed by Anthropic, supported several Republicans who lost through its affiliated PAC, but had more success backing Democratic candidates. It also contributed $3 million to a PAC supporting California state Sen. Scott Wiener, who was leading his race at the time of publication.
与此同时，Guardrails Alliance（护栏联盟）这一致力于让接受人工智能公司资金成为政治负担的团体，分别花费超过100万美元反对两名落选的候选人：加利福尼亚州众议员吉米·戈麦斯和蒙大拿州的弗林特。该团体还花费30万美元支持安吉拉·冈萨雷斯-托雷斯，后者击败了戈麦斯。
Meanwhile, Guardrails Alliance, a group that has sought to make taking money from AI companies a political liability, spent more than $1 million apiece opposing two candidates who lost: California Rep. Jimmy Gomez and Montana’s Flint. It also spent $300,000 supporting Angela Gonzales-Torres, who defeated Gomez.
在周二的选举中，难以将人工智能相关支出的影响与更广泛的民主党浪潮分离。埃隆·马斯克据报道投入了五亿美元支持中期选举中的共和党人，但他的许多候选人仍然失利。事实上，LFT 也支持了一些它认为有望获胜的候选人，却最终被民主党击败。
It’s difficult to separate the impact of AI-related spending from the broader Democratic wave that swept Tuesday’s elections. Elon Musk, who reportedly poured half a billion dollars into supporting Republicans in the midterms, also saw many of his candidates lose. Indeed, LFT also backed some candidates it believed were likely to win, only to see them lose to the Dems.
然而，对 LTF 来说，普选并不是主要关注点。该组织在选举日之前对《TechCrunch》表示，它认为初选（各党派挑选候选人的竞赛）是更有效的资金使用方式，因为在初选中投入可以提升知名度，并帮助候选人制定人工智能政策议程。
For LTF, though, the general election wasn’t the main focus. The group told TechCrunch ahead of Election Day that it thinks primaries (the contests that choose each party’s nominee) are a more effective use of its money, because spending there can build name recognition and help candidates set up AI policy agendas.
LTF 在初选中花费了 2738 万美元，其中 800 万美元单独用于反对纽约州议员亚历克斯·博雷斯（Alex Bores），他在六月竞选国会时已失利。决定是否值得进入普选时，LTF 会评估竞赛的竞争程度、支出是否可能产生影响，以及是否应为未来选举保留资金。
LTF spent $27.38 million in the primaries, including $8 million alone on opposing New York Assembly member Alex Bores, who lost his bid for Congress back in June. When deciding whether it’s worth jumping into a general election race, LTF assesses how competitive the race is, whether it thinks spending could make a difference, and whether it should keep its powder dry for future elections.
Guardrails Alliance 的政治主任查理·布莱特勒（Charlie Blaettler）对 LTF 在普选中相对少量支出的原因提出了不同的理论。
Charlie Blaettler, political director of Guardrails Alliance, had a different theory for why LTF spent comparatively little in the general election.
“他们不想让自己的资金成为这些选举中的议题，”布莱特勒说。他指出密歇根州参议院初选中，一家亲以色列游说团体 AIPAC 为民主党候选人海莉·史蒂文斯（Haley Stevens）对抗阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德（Abdul El-Sayed）投入了近 3000 万美元。史蒂文斯在初选中向埃尔-赛义德让步，后者最终赢得了参议院席位。
“They don’t want their money to become an issue in these elections,” Blaettler said. He pointed to the Michigan Senate primary election, in which a pro-Israel lobbying group called AIPAC spent close to $30 million backing Democratic candidate Haley Stevens against Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens conceded the primary to El-Sayed, who went on to win the Senate seat.
“AIPAC 成了那场竞选的焦点，”布莱特勒说。“我们知道人们讨厌 AI 亿万富翁。他们讨厌那些经营这些公司的人员。他们对科技行业的政治捐款和游说极度不信任并感到厌恶。如果他们在竞争激烈的选举中投入资金，只会成为候选人的巨大负担。” AI 党团的主要争论，无论是支持行业还是支持监管，都是国会是否应建立一个覆盖州法的全国 AI 框架，还是各州是否应保留自行实施安全措施的权力。
“AIPAC became the story in that race,” Blaettler said. “We know people hate AI billionaires. They hate the people running these companies. They’re very distrustful and disgusted by the political spending and lobbying that the tech industry does. If they spend in a competitive race, they would just become an enormous liability for their candidates.”The main fight among AI PACs, whether they are pro-industry or pro-regulation, is whether Congress should establish a national AI framework that override state laws, or whether states will maintain their own ability to impose safeguards.
双方似乎都不愿让步。支持单一全国 AI 框架的 LTF 向《TechCrunch》表示，计划在 2028 年选举中继续投入，而 Guardrails Alliance 则表示想继续反对由 AI 行业支持的候选人。
Neither side seems poised to back down. LTF, which favors a single national AI framework, told TechCrunch it plans to keep spending in the 2028 elections, while Guardrails Allliance says it wants to keep opposing candidates backed by the AI industry.
布莱特勒说，虽然 LTF 的广告很少涉及 AI，而是聚焦于每位候选人的热门议题，Guardrail Alliance 的广告则专门针对谁在接受 AI 行业的资金。
Blaettler said that while LTF’s ads rarely touch on AI, instead focusing on popular issues for each candidate, Guardrail Alliance’s ads are specifically about who is taking money from the AI industry.
“我们的目标是让 AI 资金在政治上变得有毒，”布莱特勒说。
“Our goal is to make AI money politically toxic,” Blaettler said.