Meta has dramatically raised the stakes in Big Tech’s battle over artificial intelligence oversight, committing “tens of millions” of dollars to a newly launched super PAC designed to influence state-level politics, Axios reports.
The group, called the American Technology Excellence Project, will back candidates in the 2026 midterms who embrace AI development and oppose restrictive tech policies. The move comes as statehouses across the U.S. consider an unprecedented wave of legislation in the absence of federal action.
According to policy trackers, more than 1,000 AI-related bills were introduced in state legislatures during the 2025 session, ranging from transparency mandates to outright bans on certain AI applications. For Silicon Valley, the patchwork is increasingly viewed as a major business risk.
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A Bipartisan Political Machine
Meta’s super PAC is structured to appeal across party lines. Republican strategist Brian Baker will co-lead the effort alongside Hilltop Public Solutions, a prominent Democratic consulting firm. The bipartisan leadership reflects Meta’s intention to align with politicians who prioritize innovation, regardless of partisan affiliation.
Company spokesperson Rachel Holland described the PAC’s focus as promoting U.S. technological leadership, defending AI progress, and ensuring parents maintain control over how children use AI and online apps. That last priority is a direct response to heightened scrutiny over child safety after internal documents revealed that Meta chatbots had engaged in “romantic” conversations with minors, while whistleblowers alleged the company suppressed research into those risks.
California at the Forefront
Meta has already tested this approach with a California-focused PAC launched last month. California is the epicenter of AI legislation, with two bills on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. SB 243 would regulate AI companion chatbots to protect minors and vulnerable users, while SB 53 would impose sweeping transparency requirements on large AI companies. How Newsom acts on these bills could set the tone for the rest of the country.
Brian Rice, Meta’s VP of public policy, said the new PAC will “support the election of state candidates across the country who embrace AI development, champion the U.S. technology industry, and defend American tech leadership at home and abroad.” His language reflects a broader Silicon Valley concern: that fragmented state-level rules could slow down innovation and leave the U.S. lagging in its race with China for AI dominance.
Silicon Valley’s Broader Political Offensive
Meta is not alone in this fight. Just last month, Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman unveiled their own pro-AI super PAC, with a war chest of $100 million. That group shares Meta’s goal of preventing what the industry sees as harmful state-level restrictions, arguing that AI development must remain agile and nationally coherent to compete globally.
Where Meta’s PAC leans heavily on its parental control message and a bipartisan management team, the Andreessen Horowitz–OpenAI venture reflects Silicon Valley’s pure financial muscle and its emphasis on keeping AI policy firmly in federal hands. Their strategy aligns with a failed proposal earlier this year that would have barred states from regulating AI for 10 years — a measure narrowly excluded from the federal budget after fierce debate.
Taken together, the two PACs reveal the contours of a high-stakes lobbying arms race. Meta has positioned itself as a tech company seeking to balance safety messaging with innovation, hoping to soften regulatory scrutiny by emphasizing family concerns. Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI, by contrast, have adopted a more straightforward posture, openly spending to make sure AI innovation is not slowed down by what they see as politically fragmented rules.
Meta has yet to disclose which states the American Technology Excellence Project will prioritize, or how many staffers it will employ. But with two of Silicon Valley’s biggest players now bankrolling political machines, the fight over AI regulation is poised to dominate next year’s midterms.
Meta’s gamble is to pair a child-safety message with political spending to blunt the impact of bills like California’s SB 243 and SB 53, while for Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI, the calculus is to use money to keep statehouses at bay and keep AI’s regulatory battles in Washington.
Either way, the message from Silicon Valley is that the race to shape AI policy is no longer just a matter of lobbying. It is now one of the most expensive political projects in American technology history.
