AI-Linked Super PACs Pour Nearly $1 Million Into Mike Rounds’ South Dakota Senate Race

Major super PACs associated with the AI Institute, venture capital investors and technology companies have spent nearly $1 million to support incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Rounds in South Dakota, seeking to influence a low-competition race as Congress faces a critical debate over AI regulation.

Technology Groups Fund Rounds’ Senate Campaign

Rounds has benefited from approximately $600,000 in spending by outside groups this election cycle. Most of that money came from Defend American Jobs, a super PAC funded by another super PAC sponsored by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

He also received approximately $215,000 directly from employees and super PACs affiliated with AI companies, particularly Anthropic, as well as from other technology companies including Google and Microsoft, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

With fewer than 50 days remaining before the November midterm elections, recent opinion polls show Rounds ahead of independent candidate Brian Benn after Democratic candidate Julien Beaudion resigned last month.

Rounds has received more funding from technology groups than from South Dakota donors. The spending reflects a broader effort by AI organizations to use large political war chests to support lawmakers involved in debates over artificial intelligence and the data centers that power it.

AI executives view Rounds as a leading supporter of the industry. He could also play an important role in the next Congress, where AI regulation is expected to be a major priority, according to congressional aides familiar with the matter.

The spending also appears to reflect staffing shortages on Capitol Hill and the AI Institute’s focus on retaining allies as lawmakers introduce a wave of bills in response to public concerns about AI safety.

A spokesperson for Rounds did not respond to a request for comment.

AI Super PAC Plans More Spending on Senate Republicans

On Thursday, Leading the Future, a super PAC funded in part by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and investors Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, announced that it would donate $2 million to several Senate Republicans who have supported the AI and cryptocurrency industries. Rounds was included on the list.

Data Centers Become an AI Regulation Flashpoint in South Dakota

AI regulation is already a significant issue in South Dakota. Earlier this year, the state legislature passed a bill that would require hyperscalers to assume more of the water and energy costs associated with operating data centers.

Data centers have also fueled a bitter dispute among Republicans in the state legislature. Lawmakers voted against tax breaks for equipment and software used in data centers, delaying construction on a planned development by Applied Digital, a company that builds and designs data centers.

Rounds ultimately supported adding limits to data centers. His former chief of staff and senior aide, Robert Skjonsberg, also became a registered lobbyist for Meta on issues involving the South Dakota legislature. Politico reported that Rounds’ office said his general counsel consulted the Senate Ethics Committee about the arrangement and was told there was no conflict of interest.

Meta operates a network of data centers, although it currently has no Meta-related centers in South Dakota.

Concerns about data centers extend across party lines nationwide. A recent Gallup poll found that seven in 10 Americans oppose data center development, citing the large amounts of water and energy consumed by the facilities and the public subsidies that often support those resources.