Grassroots coalition asks politicians to choose voters over Big AI's $140M machine

A coalition of advocacy groups is trying to counter the AI industry's influence on US politics by asking congressional candidates and elected officials to reject support from a major pro-AI political group.

The Stop Bleeding the Future campaign brings together more than 50 national and grassroots organizations to counter Leading the Future, a super PAC network formed last year to support candidates favoring light-touch AI regulation and oppose those backing tighter rules.

The effort is led by QuitGPT, which encourages users to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions and boycott OpenAI over what it describes as the company's support for President Trump.

The campaign highlights OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman's $25 million donation to MAGA Inc and the company's $200 million US defense contract.

Stop Bleeding the Future says it is concerned about the influence of "Big AI" on US politics and Leading the Future's efforts to defeat common-sense laws intended to protect the American people.

The effort comes amid a series of developments that have intensified concerns about AI, including agents breaking out of their sandboxes, the use of AI by miscreants to attack infrastructure, and warnings from AI executives about the dangers posed by their own technology.

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that more than half of Americans now view AI negatively, with potential job losses among their concerns.

The coalition is asking candidates and elected officials to pledge that they will refuse support from Leading the Future and publicly condemn its efforts to obstruct AI regulation.

The campaign says the Leading the Future network has raised more than $140 million for the 2026 election cycle.

Its backers include OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, making it one of the largest single-issue political operations in modern US history.

The network has also expanded into the fight over the growing datacenter backlash across the US.

Build American AI, an advocacy group affiliated with Leading the Future, has launched a super PAC called Building the Future to support candidates aligned with its datacenter agenda.

Industry supporters have claimed that China-linked bots are amplifying opposition to datacenters, while President Trump has called opposition to the facilities a "hoax." "The Big Tech oligarchs behind Leading the Future are spending millions to influence elections and make laws that put AI ahead of people," QuitGPT says in the pledge letter sent out to candidates and elected officials across the country.

The pledge has already attracted support.