Meta pours $65 million into state elections to back AI-friendly politicians
Meta commits $65 million to influence state-level elections across the US, establishing four Super PACs to back AI-friendly candidates on both sides of the aisle. Active spending confirmed in Texas and Illinois.
Meta is committing $65 million to influence state-level elections across the United States, backing candidates on both sides of the aisle who support lighter-touch AI regulation. The company has established four Super PACs to channel the funds — including "Forge the Future Project," targeting Republican candidates, and "Making Our Tomorrow," targeting Democrats — and has already begun spending in Texas and Illinois state legislature races. According to the New York Times, this represents Meta's largest political spending push to date.
The strategic logic is straightforward: as the federal government has struggled to pass comprehensive AI legislation, individual states have moved to fill the void with their own rules. A fragmented landscape of 50 different state-level AI frameworks would significantly increase compliance costs and operational complexity for companies like Meta. By backing AI-friendly candidates in state races — where relatively modest sums can swing outcomes — Meta is attempting to shape the regulatory environment before restrictive laws take hold. Meta is currently building three AI data centers in Texas, one of the states where spending is active, giving the company direct infrastructure stakes in the outcome.
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