“…According to the Financial Times, Democrats running in the 2026 midterm elections have been advised by party strategists not to antagonize pro-AI interests, even as polls show AI regulation is incredibly popular with voters.
Specifically, the Democratic establishment is telling politicians to play nice with any “pro-AI group” with over $300 million to toss around, evidently in an effort to court that money for the political machine. So far, only a small handful of progressive Democrats have made AI regulation a key part of their platform, as the majority of party functionaries bite their tongues.
“You are definitely seeing a chilling effect [on campaigns],” Alex Jacquez, former White House advisor and head of policy at Groundwork Collaborative told the FT. “There’s just not a lot of upside in the potential of getting $20mn [spent by pro-AI campaign groups] in your race… in a lot of cases it is going to be easier to say nothing.”…”