A new political action committee formed by some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest to spearhead a $100 million midterm strategy to back candidates of both parties who support a national framework for artificial intelligence regulations has infuriated the White House, according to MSNBC.
Launched in August, the PAC called Leading the Future has angered President Donald Trump because of its bipartisan nature and its plans to back AI-friendly candidates from both political parties — which could potentially help Democrats win back control of Congress, MSNBC reports.
One the super PAC's leaders is a former top staffer to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), which isn't sitting well with the White House.
That staffer, Josh Vlasto, is Schumer’s former press secretary, who during the 2024 election cycle helped advise Fairshake — a $130 million tech-led effort to elect candidates who support cryptocurrency, MSNBC says.
“Any group run by Schumer acolytes will not have the blessing of the president or his team,” a White House official familiar with Trump's thinking on the matter told NBC News. “Any donors or supporters of this group should think twice about getting on the wrong side of Trump world.”
“We are carefully monitoring who is involved,” the official added.
Other members of the PAC include private equity giant Andreesseen Horowitz, whose billionaire co-founder, Marc Andreesseen, is a close Trump adviser; Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI; Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir and a vocal Trump supporter; and Ron Conway, founder of SV Angel and a 2024 supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, MSNBC says.
Democrats need to flip just three Republican seats to take over the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, meaning this well-funded PAC could aid in that effort — much to the ire of the White House, according to the report.
“AI has no better ally than President Trump, so it’s inexplicable why any company would put money into the midterms behind a Schumer-operative who is working against President Trump to elect Democrats,” said a second person familiar with the White House’s thinking. “It’s a slap in the face, and the White House has definitely taken notice.”