WASHINGTON — In an ad that aired ahead of the March primary, Republican congressional candidate Chris Gober was promoted to voters as a “Trump conservative” and “MAGA warrior” who “knows how to win a fight.”
The ad didn’t include explicit references to artificial intelligence, only referencing Gober’s support for technology investment in Texas to “defeat China.” But it was run by American Mission, an appendage of a deep-pocketed AI super PAC network called Leading the Future, which sprung up in 2025 with backers including Greg Brockman, co-founder of the ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and Joe Lonsdale, the Austin billionaire and co-founder of Palantir, an AI-centric software and data analysis company.
American Mission spent about $372,000 airing the pro-Gober ad across the district, according to media tracking firm AdImpact, helping him win the nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Michael McCaul.
Gober, an Austin-based attorney who previously served as chief lawyer for Elon Musk’s super PAC, is one of at least seven Texas candidates running for Congress this year who have collectively gotten more than $2.8 million in support from AI-linked super PACs, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Though these campaign finance records show the PACs are largely funded by pro-AI tech executives, the groups have otherwise shrouded their connections to the industry, going by generic-sounding names such as Jobs and Democracy PAC and Defending Our Values PAC, and running ads — like with the pro-Gober spot — that do not mention the technology.
The burst of AI super PAC spending, which has gone toward ads and mailers for candidates from both parties, though primarily Republicans, comes as Congress grapples with how to regulate the burgeoning technology, and as Texas sees an explosion of power and water-guzzling data centers popping up across the state. Most of the AI-affiliated spending in Texas has supported candidates who have indicated they want to see fewer regulations for the industry, though some groups are also getting behind candidates advocating for stronger guardrails.
The most prolific AI-related spender in Texas, as of mid-March, has been American Mission, which, as part of the Leading the Future network, is aiming to install candidates in Congress who favor a lighter regulatory touch. Leading the Future, which raised more than $50 million from its creation in August through the end of the year, indicated it would support pro-AI candidates from both parties in the midterms, though in Texas it has so far spent only on behalf of Republicans. Through mid-March, American Mission had accounted for more than three quarters of AI-related PAC spending in Texas’ congressional races.
The rest has come from a pair of groups, Defending Our Values PAC and Jobs and Democracy PAC, aligned with Public First Action, a bipartisan nonprofit that’s backed by the AI giant Anthropic, which self-reported a $20 million donation to the group. Public First Action focuses on AI safety and transparency and favors stronger safeguards for the industry; it doesn’t have to disclose its donors due to its status as a nonprofit.
The prolific spending from both sides is emblematic of the political clash, set to play out across the country in this year’s midterms, between outside influences with starkly different visions for how to regulate AI.
Leading the Future is critical of AI regulations that it says stifle innovation, and has said it will support candidates looking to establish a national regulatory framework for AI, rather than allowing each state to set its own rules. Public First Action, meanwhile, lists priorities on its website such as preserving state-level authority over AI regulations, providing legal protections for whistleblowers who “expose dangerous activity by AI companies,” and requiring companies making advanced AI to tell lawmakers and other authorities what they’re doing ahead of time.
“AI is taking this approach where they're trying to expand their reach within both parties,” said Paul Jorgensen, an associate professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley who researches campaign finance. “[PACs] are trying to get some kind of uniform pro-AI message there, and this will certainly have an effect on how members of Congress vote.”
Tiffany Muller, president and executive director of End Citizens United, added that AI-aligned super PACs aren’t “showing up in a race by accident. They're following signals, and they are investing in these elections because they are expecting a return on that investment.”
There’s also a Meta-backed PAC that spent more than $1.2 million on Texas’ state-level primaries, including races for comptroller and the state Legislature. The tech giant owns AI data center campuses in Texas, where state and local officials have clashed over whether to regulate data center development amid concerns about the technology’s impact on Texas’ water crisis. The issue is set to take center stage when the Legislature convenes in 2027, with the leaders of both chambers — House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senate president — listing it among their priorities for the session.
A focus on open congressional primaries
In Texas, a rash of congressional retirements combined with last year’s GOP-led redistricting have given rise to numerous open congressional races. American Mission has focused particularly on these contests, helping three AI-supportive candidates capture the Republican nominations in their crowded primaries.
That includes Gober, who benefited from about $747,000 in spending from American Mission through late February, the most of any Texas congressional candidate. Jessica Steinmann, a Republican who won her primary in Texas’ 8th Congressional District, was another of the group’s top beneficiaries, to the tune of about $511,000 in ad spending.
In Gober’s case, American Mission accounted for nearly half of all ad spending on the candidate’s behalf during the primary, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm that tallies political ad spending on TV, radio and digital platforms.
Many candidates backed by AI super PACs signal their support for the technology through language on their campaign sites. But, with polls showing a majority of voters remain skeptical of AI and do not want data centers in their communities, most ads run by these PACs make no explicit mention of artificial intelligence. An American Mission TV ad supporting Steinmann, for example, says she’ll fight to “promote and advance American innovation,” among other priorities such as backing law enforcement and making life more affordable.
Steinmann, who’s looking to replace retiring Magnolia Rep. Morgan Luttrell, dedicates sections of her website to AI and cryptocurrency. She lists priorities such as cutting regulations to ensure AI dominance over China and pro-growth policies to “keep crypto entrepreneurs here at home.”
Also drawing AI industry support was Jace Yarbrough, a conservative attorney who secured the Republican nomination in North Texas’ newly drawn 32nd Congressional District after the primary’s second-place finisher bowed out of the May 26 runoff.
American Mission has spent almost $130,000 supporting Yarbrough, who on his campaign website lists one of his priorities as beating China on AI investment and development. The newly anointed nominee, looking to represent the area stretching from Dallas into red-leaning East Texas, said he aligns with the Trump administration on increasing domestic energy production, including by making it easier for fossil fuel companies to get permits, to both increase the country’s AI power capacity and promote jobs and low energy prices.
“If we tie our own hands on energy, then that gives China the advantage,” Yarbrough said. “I see the AI race as critical for us to win, and I see energy and domestic energy production as the key driver for that success.”
Another GOP candidate supported by American Mission, businessman Tom Sell, received 40% of the vote in March — more than double that of any other primary opponent, yet not enough for an outright win in the Lubbock-based seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jodey Arrington. The group did not get involved in the first round, then wasted no time spending some $579,000 on pro-Sell ads and texts in the opening weeks of the runoff. If he prevails in the May election, Sell would be heavily favored to win the November general election in the solidly Republican district.
The pro-regulation PACs
On Democrat Colin Allred’s campaign site, a Claude-powered chatbot in the form of Allred’s 6-month-old puppy allows users to ask questions about his run for Congress.
One of the suggested prompts is, “Tell me about Colin’s plans for AI.” That option returns a list of the former Dallas congressman’s priorities, including a federal framework for AI that doesn’t preempt state regulations, investing in renewable energy to power data centers and using strategic export controls on semiconductors to win the AI race with China.
Jobs and Democracy, the PAC aligned with nonprofit Public First Action that’s focused on AI safety and regulation, has spent close to $150,000 in support of Allred, who is in a May runoff against his successor in Congress, Rep. Julie Johnson.
Allred said the chatbot, which is available in multiple languages, breaks down barriers and allowed voters to quickly get information about how to vote on election day amid confusion at the polls in Dallas County.
“We have to have representatives who understand the technology, who aren't afraid of it, who want to embrace its good sides, but also then put some rules that are relevant in place,” he said in an interview.
Allred also said it’s important to manage the energy required for data centers with costs passed on to working people, which will have to happen through a combination of local, state and federal responsibilities.
In March, Johnson spoke about AI on the House floor, saying it “holds enormous promise for our future” while calling on Congress to establish a regulatory framework for the technology. In a statement expanding on those comments, Johnson said Congress needs to prepare the workforce and equip people with the skills for an AI-driven economy. She also criticized Allred’s chatbot and said it raises concerns about how he would approach artificial intelligence in Congress.
“Unfortunately, my opponent’s AI chatbot has been spreading misinformation about his own record, his endorsements, and his campaign in an effort to mislead voters ahead of the May 26th election,” Johnson said in her statement. “That’s not how AI should be used. And if this is how he chooses to deploy AI during a campaign, it raises serious concerns about how he would approach it in Congress."
Two other Texas candidates for the U.S. House — Republicans Carlos De La Cruz and Alex Mealer — are backed by Defending Our Values, which is also aligned with the pro-AI regulation Public First Action. Carlos De La Cruz, the brother of Edinburg GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz, is in a runoff for Texas’ 35th Congressional District, which is based in the San Antonio area. Defending Our Values spent almost $480,000 in support of his campaign ahead of the March primary. His campaign website, meanwhile, notes his support for AI and crypto development, including strengthening export controls on semiconductors, strengthening data protection and security at AI labs and investing in energy infrastructure.
Mealer, running for Texas’ 9th Congressional District in east Harris County, was backed by the same PAC with about $234,000 spent in support of her campaign.
She said in a statement that she supports U.S. dominance in AI over China, which means clear, uniform regulations across the country. that provide safeguards while allowing for innovation.
“I am also committed to ensuring that AI benefits all Americans, from small businesses to blue-collar workers to recent college graduates,” Mealer’s statement read. “This is exactly what President Trump has set out to accomplish through his AI legislative framework and I look forward to working with this administration to help codify this guidance into law.”
Future AI policy battles
Hundreds of bills related to AI have been introduced in the 119th Congress on contentious issues such as regulating AI-generated content online, data privacy and discriminatory AI systems. But GOP leadership in Washington has not shown interest in regulating the technology at the federal level, and the bills have all languished.
Last year, Sen. Ted Cruz pushed to limit state-level AI laws through the Senate’s budget reconciliation package, but the provision ultimately was struck from the bill.
Proponents of state-level regulation argue it allows lawmakers to more quickly set up guardrails that meet the unique needs of each state, rather than relying on a gridlocked Congress to set the one-size-fits-all national standard. Those looking to bar state AI regulations say a patchwork of regulatory policies hinders innovation and causes confusion for AI companies operating across state lines.
The White House unveiled its national AI framework and shared it with congressional leadership on Friday. It urges Congress to override state AI laws that “impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard.”
Jorgensen, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor, said AI super PAC money would “absolutely” influence the decisions Congress makes about AI policy. He said he’s authored numerous papers showing that political money has the potential to influence people in Congress across the political aisle.
Ian Vandewalker, an expert in money in politics with New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, said if PACs back anti-regulation candidates, and those candidates win, they will presumably support policies in Congress that create a more favorable regulatory landscape for AI companies. He added that candidates typically take note of who is spending on their behalf.
“The mere fact that the industry spent a bunch of money on the election, and will presumably spend a bunch of money on any future election, means that policymakers across the board will probably listen to what they have to say at a minimum, and may be afraid of making them angry by going against them,” Vandewalker said.
But Brian Roberts, a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said the AI-affiliated PACs are spending money on candidates who already align with them on AI policy, rather than trying to persuade less sympathetic candidates to change their position. He added that PAC spending doesn’t determine congressional hierarchy, so freshman members may not have much influence on which policies the next Congress adopts.
“The strategy is to elect kindred spirits,” he said. “You're electing members of Congress who you can count on to vote in a consistent way. The policy implications really depend on which party has majority status after the midterms in the House and what committees these members end up on.”
Disclosure: University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.