Coalition of parents, children’s safety, environmental, AI safety, and watchdog groups call on members to disavow AI super PAC support

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, The Tech Oversight Project called out Big Tech’s toxic money as new Federal Election Commission filings became public. The findings show that a small group of billionaire Big Tech executives is flooding elections with money to push AI preemption and ban state laws that lower costs on families, protect children and teens, and protect workers.

“If it wasn’t obvious before today, it should be now: a small handful of powerful Big Tech CEOs are spending enormous amounts of cash to drown out the voice of the American people. They want to force a dangerous AI agenda down our throats, and we have to band together to beat them at the ballot box,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project. “Leading the Future and other Big Tech super PACs’ sole mission is to pass universally hated AI preemption and ban bipartisan measures that protect ordinary Americans. By a two-to-one margin, voters believe states should be able to pass their own AI laws, and Members of Congress must decide whether they are on the side of Big Tech or the people they serve.”

Earlier today, The Tech Oversight Project, alongside 13 children’s online safety, disability rights, tech watchdog, and AI safety organizations, urged Democratic Members of Congress, including Rep. Clarke, Gottheimer, Gomez, Liccardo, and Subramanyam, to disavow the recent endorsement by AI super PAC Leading the Future, which is funded by Trump’s biggest backers in tech.

Background and Recent Developments:

• While publicly touting $15 million in new fundraising, in reality, Leading the Future’s fundraising haul came from two sources: Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The donations appear to be a partner donation from a16z, the Venture Capital firm the Big Tech executives operate. It is unclear if this money was related to prior commitments, or if it was in fact “additional.”
• Leading the Future moved an additional $10 million into its subsidiary super PACs, Think Big and American Mission. Both transfers were for $5 million each.
• Leading the Future also appears to have launched an additional subsidiary super PAC called American Mission Florida, which was previously unreported and will presumably spend in the Florida Governor’s race. Leading the Future transferred $3 million to American Mission Florida.
• Leading the Future also masks the identity of their communications and strategic consultants by routing money through Prusik Partners LLC.
• Based on an FEC filing from yesterday, it appears that David Sacks isn’t (or hasn’t yet) put his money where his mouth is when it comes to his own Big Tech billionaire-backed super PAC called the Innovation Council. The group launched at the end of March with $0 in the bank and has yet to spend any money.