Public First Action is a network of super PACs and affiliated nonprofit organizations linked to Anthropic that funds electoral activity in support of AI regulation, safety, and guardrails. It is the pro-regulation counterpart to Leading the Future, the Silicon Valley–backed pro-AI super PAC that opposes state-level AI rules, and the two groups have come to anchor opposing sides of AI's entry into US electoral politics ahead of the 2026 midterms (Source: washingtonpost.com).
Funding and structure
Public First Action is funded largely by Anthropic, which has provided about $20 million to the group, and operates as a network of super PACs and nonprofit organizations rather than a single committee; affiliated efforts have included a group described as "Jobs in Democracy" (Source: cnbc.com; washingtonpost.com). The group's involvement reflects direct participation by a frontier lab in electoral politics on AI policy, paralleling — from the opposite direction — the role of OpenAI principals in Leading the Future.
Activity
The group began an advertising campaign in early 2026; The New York Times reported its ad blitz starting in late February 2026 (Source: nytimes.com). It became most visible in the New York Democratic primary involving state Assemblymember Alex Bores, author of an "AI dividend" proposal and a target of the $8 million Leading the Future spent to defeat him. Public First Action supported Bores; in that race, pro-regulation groups — including roughly $12 million attributed to Public First Action — outspent Leading the Future by more than two to one. Bores narrowly lost his June 23, 2026 Manhattan primary, after which Leading the Future's network largely went quiet; AI-safety advocates characterized the spending outcome as evidence that the AI industry's intimidation strategy was faltering (Source: cnbc.com; politico.com).
According to reporting published July 1, 2026, Public First Action routed $2 million through the Latino Victory Fund to support Colorado House candidate Manny Rutinel without disclosing the transfer before his victory. The Latino Victory Fund reported roughly $1 million in advertising backing Rutinel and $1 million opposing his opponent but did not identify Public First Action as the source of the funds until after the race (Source: transformernews.ai).
FEC filings released the night of July 15, 2026 showed Dario Amodei personally giving $1 million in May 2026 to Public First — his largest political donation on record — with other Anthropic staffers giving over $2 million combined (Source: politico.com). Q2 filings reported July 17 showed the Public First network raising $3.4 million in the quarter, including the Amodei donation and contributions from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI staff (Source: axios.com). On July 17, 2026, Public First Action announced a $15 million project backing Republican midterm candidates who favor AI safeguards, including more than $7 million in advertising for Senators Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, and Ashley Moody (Source: axios.com).
Policy relevance
Public First Action and Leading the Future together turned AI policy into a question of campaign spending during the 2026 cycle, a development tracked in AI Industry Lobbying — The 2025-2026 Political Offensive. The existence of well-funded committees on both the pro-regulation and anti-regulation sides complicates the common framing of AI politics as industry-versus-public, since the largest funders on each side are themselves frontier AI companies. The use of paid media and affiliated content channels in these races also bears on AI and political messaging.
Relationships
- contradicts: Leading the Future (super PAC) (opposing super PAC on AI regulation).
- related: Anthropic, Alex Bores, AI Industry Lobbying — The 2025-2026 Political Offensive, AI Political Bias.