Ahead of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections in November, a new political fundraising group has emerged to support the Donald Trump administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) policies.
Online media outlet Axios reported on the 29th that a non-profit organization called “Innovation Council Action” plans to invest over $100 million (approximately 150 billion won) in this year’s elections to support the Trump administration’s agenda of AI deregulation and the early establishment of infrastructure.
On its website, the group explains that it is using the “AI Action Plan” announced by President Trump last July and the White House’s national policy framework as its guidelines. This organization, which opened an office in Washington, D.C., and began quietly raising funds last year, has compiled scorecards for lawmakers evaluating their level of support for Trump’s AI policies, and uses this to decide which targets to support or oppose. The group is led by Taylor Budowitch, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, who previously led MAGA, a Super PAC that raised funds for President Trump’s presidential campaign, and the non-profit organization Defense of America (SAG). It also receives the support of David Sachs, Co-Chair of the White House Council of Science and Technology Advisors, who served as the “AI Tsar” of the Trump administration.
Chairman Sachs stated, “Innovation Council Action will play a pivotal role in driving the innovation agenda led by President Trump and the current administration,” adding, “I welcome the committee’s support at this critical juncture.” Unlike other Super PACs, this organization is classified as a non-profit and is not obligated to disclose its donor list. In U.S. elections, political funds flowing through such non-profit organizations are referred to as “dark money.”
In addition to this, there is a super PAC called “Leading the Future” in the U.S. tech industry that supports President Trump’s deregulation of AI. However, NBC reported that this super PAC, which raised $125 million (approximately 190 billion won) with support from OpenAI CEO Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has drawn concern from the White House for pursuing bipartisan support that includes not only Republican but also Democratic candidates. The fact that Josh Blasto, one of the executives leading Leading the Future, is a former aide to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) also appears to have influenced this distancing.
Meta also invested $65 million to launch two Super PACs—”Forge the Future,” which supports the Republican Party, and “Making Our Tomorrow,” which supports the Democratic Party—to block sporadic AI regulations.
Additionally, Antropic, which is currently engaged in litigation with the government after being recently designated as a “supply chain risk” company by the Department of Defense, donated $20 million (approximately 30 billion won) last month to “Public First Action,” which calls for stricter AI regulations.