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The Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) identified at least 164 political ads made or enhanced with AI and estimated their spending at just under $80 million in its September 4, 2026 snapshot. Of those identified ads, 69% had no disclaimer disclosing AI use; those ads accounted for 78% of the estimated spending. The figures are a documented minimum, not a count of every campaign ad that used AI.
What does the nearly $80 million figure count?
WMP’s September 4, 2026 release counted at least 164 identified AI-generated or AI-enhanced political ads aired on broadcast television, connected TV (CTV), and digital venues. It estimated spending on those ads at just under $80 million, using AdImpact estimates for each ad. The total is estimated ad spending, not a measure of campaign budgets devoted specifically to AI tools.
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The tally grew over time: WMP’s initial May 2026 report identified 33 ads with about $20 million in spending. The May and September figures are snapshots taken at different points as the running list expanded, rather than conflicting final counts. In an October 5 article, the researchers described the cycle total as “almost 170” unique ads; that is rounded wording, while WMP’s September release gives the more precise minimum of 164.
How did WMP identify ads and estimate spending?
WMP included an ad if it met at least one of three criteria: its disclaimer explicitly said AI had been used; news media or AdImpact reported it as AI-generated or AI-enhanced; or WMP coding staff flagged it as likely to incorporate AI and the project team confirmed it. The project described its goal as assessing “known prevalence over time.”
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AdImpact supplied the spending estimates for the ads on WMP’s list. The count therefore depends on both the ads the project could identify and the spending estimates attached to them. WMP cautioned that the tally is an underestimate because AI use can be difficult to detect and some uses may go unnoticed. Its list should be read as a minimum of known cases, not a census of AI use in campaign advertising.
How many ads disclosed AI use?
WMP reported that 69% of the identified ads had no disclaimer disclosing AI use, and those ads represented 78% of the estimated spending. The figures measure two different things: the share of ads without a disclosure and the share of dollars spent on those ads.
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The tally included both generated content and AI enhancement. The researchers describe deepfakes as synthetic videos showing people doing things they did not do, but not every AI-generated or AI-enhanced ad depicts a false event or impersonates a politician. Some uses may be subtle visual enhancements that do not look distinct from conventional editing.
Which sponsors accounted for the identified ads?
Within WMP’s identified set, Republican candidates or pro-Republican groups accounted for 80% of the ads and 83% of spending. Pro-Democratic sponsors accounted for 11% of ads and 14% of spending. These shares describe the ads WMP identified; they do not establish the distribution of AI use across all campaigns or all political advertising.
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What do state disclosure rules show?
In an October 5, 2026 article, political advertising researchers Travis N. Ridout, Erika Franklin Fowler, and Michael Franz reported that, across ads they tracked in 35 states, 31% of ads—representing 22% of spending—disclosed AI use. They also compared ads in states with and without AI political-ad laws:
| State-law category | Tracked ads with an AI disclaimer |
|---|---|
| States without such laws | 32% |
| States with such laws | 29% |
The percentages do not show whether state laws caused disclosure to rise or fall. The researchers caution that some ads in their database may not have been covered by the relevant law, and some laws took effect only after an ad aired. They give Colorado as an example of a law that applies to candidate deepfakes, not every use of AI in political advertising.
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The legal picture is a patchwork, and the researchers’ article is not a complete current state-by-state inventory or legal advice. WMP also said there was no federal mandate requiring political ads to disclose AI use.
What kinds of AI political ads were reported?
The researchers’ examples illustrate the range of content included in discussion of AI political advertising, without implying that every example was counted in the same way or that all AI ads are deepfakes. They describe an ad showing a Republican Louisiana Senate candidate driving a school bus full of undocumented immigrants, a South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate walking arm in arm with drag queens, and an ad depicting Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, and Mike Pence with pitchforks at the White House. They also mention a fake Dr. Anthony Fauci and generated crowds.
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The article describes an AI-generated or synthetic-video ad involving Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan that aired in May 2026. The authors say whether it violated Minnesota law was uncertain, because the law’s application turns on a realism threshold. Their account does not establish that the ad violated the law.
Sources and date of the figures
- Wesleyan Media Project, September 4, 2026 release — the September snapshot, counting approach, spending estimates, sponsor shares, and disclosure figures.
- Travis N. Ridout, Erika Franklin Fowler, and Michael Franz, The Conversation, October 5, 2026 — examples, state comparisons, and caveats about the legal context.
The count and estimated spending reflect the dated WMP snapshot and may change as the project updates its tracking.
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