Political campaigns and groups have spent more than $137 million airing ads created at least partly with AI tools ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, according to new data from the Wesleyan Media Project. That’s a massive jump from the 2024 election cycle.

“AI is making its way into the 2026 midterms in a big way this year. For comparison, we identified less than $50,000 in spending on AI-generated ads in the 2024 cycle,” Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, said in a news release. “Much of the AI use is not disclosed through any type of disclaimer.”

So far, the research group has identified 220 political ads across 34 states that were created with AI this year. But the actual number is likely higher, since it can be difficult to determine whether AI was used and only 30 states require AI disclosures for political ads.

The group found that just 27% of the ads included a disclaimer informing viewers that ads featured AI-generated content.

Unsurprisingly, Republicans are leading the charge. Republican candidates and groups accounted for 81% of the identified AI-generated ads and a whopping 88% of the spending. Democrats, meanwhile, sponsored just 12% of the ads.

One possible reason for the gap is that Democrats are more concerned about how voters might react to their use of AI, particularly as members of the party push for stronger regulations on the technology.

“Democratic candidates and groups face more reputational risk when using a tool that they are arguing should be regulated,” Travis N.

Source link