AI super PAC’s strategy fails to replicate crypto’s election success

The AI industry studied crypto’s political playbook closely. It raised the money, built the super PAC network, and picked its races. What it has not managed to copy is the result. Leading the Future, the AI-focused super PAC network launched in 2025, has spent heavily through the 2026 cycle. Yet it still lacks the kind of signature win that made crypto’s Fairshake a name every lawmaker learned to respect. Big money, muted message The financial firepower is not the problem. Leading the Future started with a fund of over $100 million, a figure that later climbed toward approximately $140 million. That puts it roughly level with Fairshake’s 2024 cycle total of approximately $131 million. The network counts OpenAI president Greg Brockman and venture capitalists from Andreessen Horowitz among its supporters. The goal was simple enough. Back candidates who favor a lighter touch on AI regulation, and make life harder for those pushing strict rules. By late September 2026, Leading the Future and its affiliate groups had spent approximately $55.7 million. Most of it went into primary elections, and much of it favored Democrats running in safe seats. Those races delivered wins. The network p...