| Formation | August 15, 2025 (2025-08-15) |
|---|---|
| Type | Super PAC |
| Registration no. | C00916114 |
| Headquarters | Henderson, Nevada |
Region served | United States |
Key people |
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| Website | www |
Leading the Future is an American super PAC network focused on lobbying for policies friendly to the artificial intelligence industry. It was launched in 2025 and has received over $140 million from industry stakeholders including Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.12345 The launch was preceded by talks between Collin McCune, head of government affairs at Andreessen Horowitz, and Chris Lehane, chief global affairs officer at OpenAI.1 Lehane had also advised Brockman on his political spending, which Brockman described as being in service of OpenAI’s mission.67 Among the members of the network are the American Mission PAC, which supported Chris Gober, and the Think Big PAC, which targeted Alex Bores.8
Leading the Future is affiliated with the nonprofit Build American AI, which Axios describes as a dark money advocacy "offshoot" operating alongside the super PAC.9 Build American AI is led by Nathan Leamer.10 NBC News states that Leading The Future's efforts are modeled after the pro-cryptocurrency group Fairshake, which Chris Lehane had previously helped launch.411 Leading the Future is led by Zac Moffatt and Josh Vlasto, the latter of whom previously served as an advisor to Fairshake.4 In response to the creation of Leading the Future, former members of Congress Brad Carson and Chris Stewart co-founded the super PAC network Public First, aiming to counter the group’s influence.12
In April 2026, an investigation by Model Republic linked Leading the Future to The Wire By Acutus, an automated news website that allegedly used AI agents posing as human journalists to solicit interviews. The site's content was found to closely mirror the PAC's deregulatory policy goals while targeting researchers and advocates skeptical of rapid AI development.13
In May 2026, Wired revealed that Build American AI used a "dark money" campaign to pay TikTok and Instagram influencers $5,000 per video to promote scripted narratives framing Chinese AI as a "national security threat." According to internal documents and staff at the marketing agency managing the project, the campaign's explicit goal was to "subtly shift public debate" toward the deregulation of AI industries while intentionally avoiding technical discussions regarding AI quality or safety.14
That same month, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that super PACs associated with Leading the Future evaded federal transparency requirements by funneling payments through shell companies.15
During the 2026 primary season, Leading the Future endorsed several candidates in both Democratic and Republican races, several of whom won.161718
References
References
- "Exclusive | Silicon Valley Launches Pro-AI PACs to Defend Industry in Midterm Elections". Wall Street Journal.
- "Super PAC aims to drown out AI critics in midterms, with $100M and counting". The Washington Post. 26 August 2025.
- "Silicon Valley Pledges $200 Million to New Pro-A.I. Super PACs". The New York Times.
- "'Slap in the face': White House irked by a new $100M pro-AI super PAC". NBC News. 2025-10-24. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
- "Andreessen, Horowitz Boost AI Super PAC to Over $50 Million". 2026-04-15. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Zeff, Maxwell. "Can OpenAI's 'Master of Disaster' Fix AI's Reputation Crisis?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2026-06-04.
- Zeff, Maxwell. "OpenAI's President Gave Millions to Trump. He Says It's for Humanity". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2026-06-04.
- Gold, Hadas (2025-12-10). "Pro-AI super PAC launches first candidate ads". CNN. Retrieved 2025-12-18.
- Isenstadt, Alex (2025-10-29). "AI industry-backed group to spend millions pushing regulation agenda". Axios. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
- "Leamer to lead group fighting state AI rules". Punchbowl News. 2025-11-13. Retrieved 2026-06-12.
- Duhigg, Charles (2024-10-07). "Silicon Valley, the New Lobbying Monster". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-06-04.
- Nelson, Laura J. (2025-11-28). "Tech Titans Amass Multimillion-Dollar War Chests to Fight AI Regulation". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
- James, Luke (2026-04-28). "News site linked to OpenAI super PAC sent bots posing as journalists to interview real people — site has published nearly 100 articles with real quotes gathered by fake writers". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
- Lorenz, Taylor. "A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to Frame Chinese AI as a Threat". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
- Birnbaum, Emily (2026-05-07). "AI Super PACs Are Improperly Hiding Payments, FEC Complaint Says". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
- Nichols, Hans (Mar 4, 2026). "OpenAI has good opening night in 2026 primary season". axios.com. Axios. Archived from the original on March 5, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
- Gold, Ashley (May 8, 2026). "Scoop: Pro-AI super PAC endorses three Dems". axios.com. Axios. Archived from the original on May 9, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
- Nichols, Hans (May 22, 2026). "OpenAI-linked PAC doubles down in Kentucky". axios.com. Axios. Archived from the original on May 23, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.