Anthropic-linked Public First plots 2027 AI safety push with $30 million

Public First Action's memo frames the midterms as a win for AI safety advocates but spends much of its energy on the next fight. It names Leading the Future, the top pro-AI super PAC, and describes its current position as a "crash out," yet cautions that reading this cycle and that group's decline as the end of Big Tech's AI political project would be a mistake. The explicit concern is that an industry-backed opposition campaign could regroup, which is why Public First argues a pro-safety organization must be ready to "counter, toxify, and ultimately overcome" it.

The group's stated 2027 goals tie legislative and electoral work together: pushing Congress toward AI laws that do not preempt state legislation, backing pro-AI-safety candidates, and rebutting pro-AI messaging. Its $30 million in the bank is presented as the resource for that work, and it says that between now and 2028 it will make AI a top-tier issue across the presidential race, every House and Senate race, and gubernatorial, attorney general, and state legislative races. Public First's significant funding from Anthropic is noted as the backdrop to the plan.