Since 2020 US campaigns disclosed $17 million on AI, Americans unimpressed
Since 2020, US political campaigns have reported at least $17 million in disclosed spending on AI technology vendors, with 523 federal candidates and campaigns getting in on the action.
Even though AI is becoming a go-to for campaign strategies, most Americans are not thrilled about it: more than 70% would think less of a candidate if they used AI to help write a speech, according to a September 2025 Pew survey.
Republicans favor OpenAI, Democrats Anthropic
Republicans tend to go for OpenAI (about $50,000 spent across at least 80 federal campaigns and committees since 2024), while Democrats prefer Anthropic.
Some well-known names using these tools include Tom Cotton and Mary Peltola.
There is also growing investment in AI-powered voter engagement platforms like Campaign Nucleus, mostly from Republicans.
Official reports say deepfake use is still rare, but with political ads that included AI-generated media and $80 million spent overall, outside groups may be doing more behind the scenes.