AI Backers Spend Heavily to Keep a Friendly Senator in Office
Super PACs tied to AI labs and investors have poured close to $1 million into South Dakota's Senate race, with most coming from a group funded by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Incumbent Republican Mike Rounds has also received direct contributions from employees and PACs of Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft. The spending aims to secure an ally in Congress as AI regulation becomes a top priority.
The spending arrives as South Dakota lawmakers have already clashed over data center policy, passing a measure that shifts more utility costs onto hyperscalers. A separate vote against equipment tax breaks stalled an Applied Digital project. Rounds' former chief of staff now lobbies for Meta before the state legislature, an arrangement his office says was cleared by the Senate ethics committee.
Beyond Rounds, the broader push includes Leading the Future, a super PAC tied to OpenAI's Greg Brockman and investors Horowitz and Andreessen, which pledged $2 million for Senate Republicans friendly to AI and crypto. The urgency reflects public sentiment: a Gallup survey found roughly seven in ten Americans oppose data center development due to water and energy demands.
This spending pattern could reshape how voters perceive AI policy battles, as outside money flows into races where local concerns about data centers and energy costs collide with industry ambitions. Residents of states hosting large server farms may see their utility bills and environmental debates become proxies for national tech lobbying. The outcome could influence whether lawmakers feel empowered to support AI-friendly legislation or respond to grassroots opposition, potentially affecting how quickly AI infrastructure expands and who bears its costs.