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THE REFEREE BOUGHT THE GAME

By Zimbo · November 7, 2026

AI cartoon by Zimbo: Satirical cartoon: a cheerful robot hands a giant green $63M check to a grinning suited politician holding an AI SAFETY rulebook behind his back, in front of the Capitol and an AI SAFETY sign, on plain white paper.
Anthropic-backed super PAC Public First spent $63 million on the midterms and 10 of its 17 candidates won — the safety lab helped elect the lawmakers who will regulate it. Per the group's figures, via Bloomberg.Zimbo for AI News Page

The story behind the cartoon

Public First, the pro-regulation AI safety group backed by Anthropic and co-founder Dario Amodei, spent more than $63 million in the 2026 midterms, and 10 of the 17 congressional candidates it backed won their races, Bloomberg reported on November 7.

The group was part of a broader $110 million fight over how Washington treats AI. Anthropic contributed roughly $20 million to the group and employees added about $5 million; Amodei gave $1 million personally, his first campaign contribution of the cycle. The rival accelerationist super PAC Leading the Future spent roughly $54 million with weaker results.

The wins land as the regulatory stakes rise: the candidates favor stricter oversight of artificial intelligence, and the new Congress will decide whether frontier AI faces mandatory testing and developer liability — the rules the spending was meant to shape.

The joke is the handover itself: the safety lab's robot cheerfully delivers a giant $63 million check to the smiling politician, who tucks his AI SAFETY rulebook behind his back. The referee bought the game — and the game is writing the rules.

READ THE FULL REPORT — Techmeme ↗

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