American political campaigns use AI both behind the scenes—to draft communications, analyze information and prepare fundraising appeals—and in voter-facing ads. The available spending figures are snapshots of different activity: disclosed payments for selected AI subscriptions and estimated spending on identified AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads. They do not add up to a reliable total for campaign AI spending.
How campaigns use AI
Campaign use falls into two broad categories: tools that support internal work and AI-assisted material that voters see. The Congressional Research Service’s March 18, 2024 overview describes AI as a way for campaign professionals and volunteers to automate or supplement labor. In 2026-cycle reporting, Republican digital strategist Eric Wilson told The Washington Post, “For the most part, people are using it to write their emails, write their ad copy, write their scripts. But no one is going to go around saying, ‘I’m using AI.’” That is Wilson’s account of common practice, not the result of a representative survey.
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Internal campaign work
- Drafting: Campaigns may use AI to help write emails, advertising copy, scripts and targeted fundraising appeals. These tools can produce drafts, but the cited reporting does not establish how often campaigns publish AI-written material without human editing.
- Analysis and research: The CRS lists large-scale data analysis and opposition research among reported campaign applications. These are uses of AI to support campaign work, not proof that a particular campaign uses a specific system or that its findings are accurate.
Voter-facing ads
AI is also used to generate or alter political advertisements. The Wesleyan Media Project reported on May 28, 2026, that it had identified AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads on broadcast television, connected TV and digital venues. Its definition includes deepfakes: videos depicting a person as doing or saying something they did not do.
Campaign activity should not be confused with election administration. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission discusses possible AI uses and risks for election offices, including workload and voter services, but that is not evidence of campaign spending or campaign use.
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What the available spending figures measure
The figures below cover different things and should not be combined. The Washington Post’s 2026-cycle analysis examined disclosed payments to OpenAI; Wesleyan tracked spending on identified advertisements. Subscription fees are not ad buys, and neither source provides a complete accounting of campaign spending on AI.
| Measure | Reported figure | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Congressional candidate OpenAI payments | 39 candidates | The Washington Post reported that its analysis of federal disclosures found 39 congressional candidates reporting OpenAI subscription payments during the 2026 election cycle. Two explicitly described the subscription in filings as being used for advertising. |
| Largest candidate OpenAI payment in the Post analysis | About $3,260 | The Post reported that Rep. Mike Lawler had paid around this amount for ChatGPT since 2025. It was the largest candidate amount in that analysis, not a typical campaign cost. |
| PAC and party OpenAI payments | Around 30 organizations; RNC at roughly $9,700 | The Post found around 30 PACs and parties reporting OpenAI payments and identified the Republican National Committee as the largest political spender on OpenAI among them. |
| Spending on identified AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads | At least $19.7 million on 33 unique ads | Wesleyan Media Project’s May 28, 2026 estimate covered ads on broadcast television, connected TV and digital venues. Wesleyan characterized the spending figure as an undercount. |
| Sponsors in Wesleyan’s tracked ad sample | 70% conservative or Republican; 18% liberal or Democratic | These were shares of the tracked ads in Wesleyan’s May 2026 snapshot, not shares of all campaign AI use. The remaining ads had sponsors whose political leaning did not clearly fit either category. |
The payment counts and amounts describe selected reported vendor payments, not every AI provider, campaign or use. A filing that reports a subscription payment does not necessarily show how the tool was used. The Federal Election Commission’s campaign-finance data portal provides disclosure records, but those records alone do not identify a complete AI budget.
How much AI political advertising is disclosed?
Disclosure rates depend on the date and set of ads being counted. In its May 2026 tracking snapshot, Wesleyan said 48% of the identified ads contained an AI-use disclaimer. In a later report published September 25, 2026, the Associated Press said Wesleyan had identified at least 164 AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads during the cycle and that 69% lacked disclosure. Those are different snapshots, not two measurements of the same fixed set of ads.
Wesleyan’s May 2026 estimate is not a census. Its co-director Michael Franz said, “Our analysis most certainly understates the amount of spending on ads generated or enhanced through the use of AI because the federal government and many states do not require the labeling of AI use.” Identifying unlabeled AI use is difficult, so a tracked-ad total should be read as a documented minimum rather than a complete count.
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What federal rules say about AI campaign ads
On September 19, 2024, the FEC voted not to open a new rulemaking on AI campaign ads. Its interpretive rule, announced September 27, says existing federal fraudulent-misrepresentation provisions apply regardless of the technology used. The FEC summarized the point this way: “The statute, and the Commission’s implementing regulation, is technology neutral.” It says particular applications will be considered case by case.
This is not a general federal mandate to label all AI-generated campaign content, nor does it make every AI-assisted ad unlawful. The rule concerns specified fraudulent misrepresentation under 52 U.S.C. § 30124 and 11 CFR 110.16, including conduct carried out through AI-assisted media. The CRS’s March 2024 summary said existing disclaimer requirements for communications covered by campaign-finance law appeared to apply to AI-created ads, but did not require telling audiences that AI was used.
State rules vary in scope and effective date. The Associated Press’s September 25, 2026 report describes a patchwork of state requirements; whether a rule applies can depend on the kind of AI use and whether the rule was in effect when the ad ran. For a specific communication, assess the relevant state’s current law and the particular conduct rather than assuming a universal labeling requirement.
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