Public First's $63 million midterm push elects 10 of 17

Public First's midterm spending is notable for who is behind it: Dario Amodei, the co-founder of Anthropic, and other AI safety advocates put more than $63 million behind candidates aligned with stricter regulation. That money translated into a 10-of-17 win rate among the congressional candidates the group backed.

The incoming House class will include Manny Rutinel of Colorado and Scott Wiener of California, the architects of two of the country's most sweeping state-level AI laws. Their move to Congress brings both energy and expertise on the issue to the federal level, at a time when Americans are increasingly uneasy over the rapidly developing technology.

A rival funding network pursuing the opposite cause — offering the industry more leeway to develop AI — also claimed successes, suggesting the midterms drew money from both sides of the AI oversight debate.