Exclusive: AI safety money floods into political races - Axios

Advocates for AI safety and regulation are emerging as a force in U.S. elections, according to a new analysis shared exclusively with Axios. The analysis found that such advocates have spent nearly $50 million this election cycle on candidates who favour regulation. Axios published the figures in a piece headlined "Exclusive: AI safety money floods into political races."

The analysis was provided to Axios on an exclusive basis, and the reported total is "nearly $50 million." Axios describes the analysis as exclusive to the outlet, meaning the underlying data has not been published elsewhere. The recipients of the spending are described as candidates who favour regulation. The material does not name individual races, candidates, donors or organisations behind the spending, and it does not break the total down by state, chamber or party.

Axios states that the safety spending points to unusual power dynamics in the AI race, in which researchers shape policy and regulation in ways that differ at times from the priorities of the companies where they work. The article characterises the advocates as emerging as a force in U.S. elections. It places the roughly $50 million figure within the wider debate over how AI is governed, and notes that the researchers involved make their livings at companies whose priorities may not align with the regulation those researchers support. The article does not state when within the cycle the spending occurred, or how the total compares with previous cycles.