{"id":176552,"date":"2025-09-23T15:02:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176552\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T15:02:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:02:08","slug":"meta-launches-super-pac-to-fight-ai-regulation-as-state-policies-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176552\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta launches super PAC to fight AI regulation as state policies mount\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meta has raised the stakes in Big Tech\u2019s fight against AI regulation. The Facebook-maker is investing \u201ctens of millions\u201d of dollars into a new super PAC to fight state-level tech policy proposals that could stifle AI advancement, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/09\/23\/meta-superpac-ai-regulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Axios<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meta\u2019s pro-AI PAC, called the American Technology Excellence Project, is the company\u2019s latest effort to combat policies it sees as harmful to the development of AI. Last month, <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/08\/26\/meta-to-spend-tens-of-millions-on-pro-ai-super-pac\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Meta launched a California-focused PAC<\/a> to back tech-friendly candidates in state races.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Axios reports that Meta\u2019s new super PAC will be run by Republican veteran Brian Baker and Democratic consulting firm Hilltop Public Solutions, and will work to elect tech-friendly politicians from both parties in next year\u2019s midterm elections. Rachel Holland, a Meta spokesperson, told the outlet that the super PAC will focus on promoting and defending U.S. tech companies and leadership, advocating for AI progress, and putting parents in charge of how their children experience online apps and AI technologies. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The focus on parental control comes amid comes growing child safety concerns surrounding AI tools. Meta has <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/08\/15\/sen-hawley-to-probe-meta-after-report-finds-its-ai-chatbots-flirt-with-kids\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">come under particular scrutiny<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/08\/15\/sen-hawley-to-probe-meta-after-report-finds-its-ai-chatbots-flirt-with-kids\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">leaked internal documents<\/a> showed the company\u2019s chatbots were allowed to have \u201cromantic\u201d chats with kids and <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/09\/08\/meta-suppressed-childrens-safety-research-four-whistleblowers-claim\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">whistleblower reports<\/a> alleged that the company may have suppressed research on child safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meta has not shared which states its super PAC would focus on, nor how many people the PAC would employ. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PAC comes at a time when many states are proposing AI regulations, spurred by a perceived failure of the federal government to address the issue. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.multistate.ai\/updates\/vol-71#:~:text=Key%20highlights%20this%20week:,68%20were%20signed%20into%20law.\" target=\"_blank\">More than 1,000 bills<\/a> were introduced in all 50 states related to AI during the 2025 legislative session. In California specifically, two bills passed and are awaiting signature or veto by Governor Gavin Newsom: SB 243, a bill that would <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/09\/11\/a-california-bill-that-would-regulate-ai-companion-chatbots-is-close-to-becoming-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">regulate AI companion chatbots<\/a> to protect minors and vulnerable users, and SB 53, a bill that would set <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/09\/13\/california-lawmakers-pass-ai-safety-bill-sb-53-but-newsom-could-still-veto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">new transparency requirements<\/a> on large AI companies. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reached for comment, Meta VP of public policy Brian Rice said the new group would \u201csupport the election of state candidates across the country who embrace AI development, champion the U.S. technology industry, and defend American tech leadership at home and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Techcrunch event<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Silicon Valley has picked up the pace this year to try to curb states\u2019 abilities to pass AI legislation, arguing that such a \u201cpatchwork\u201d would be difficult for powerful AI companies to navigate and slow down innovation at a time when the U.S. is racing to beat China in AI development. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman launched a <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/08\/25\/silicon-valley-is-pouring-millions-into-pro-ai-pacs-to-sway-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Silicon Valley super PAC<\/a> with $100 million dedicated to advocating against AI regulation. Earlier this year, a proposal that would <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/06\/30\/congress-might-block-state-ai-laws-for-five-years-heres-what-it-means\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">bar states from regulating AI<\/a> at all for 10 years almost made it into the federal budget, but was ultimately <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/07\/01\/us-senate-removes-controversial-ai-moratorium-from-budget-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">struck down<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Got a sensitive tip or confidential documents? We\u2019re reporting on the inner workings of the AI industry \u2014 from the companies shaping its future to the people impacted by their decisions. Reach out to Rebecca Bellan at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/09\/23\/meta-launches-super-pac-to-fight-ai-regulation-as-state-policies-mount\/mailto:rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com<\/a>\u00a0and Maxwell Zeff at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/09\/23\/meta-launches-super-pac-to-fight-ai-regulation-as-state-policies-mount\/mailto:maxwell.zeff@techcrunch.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">maxwell.zeff@techcrunch.com<\/a>. For secure communication, you can contact us via Signal at\u00a0@rebeccabellan.491 and\u00a0@mzeff.88.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meta has raised the stakes in Big Tech\u2019s fight against AI regulation. The Facebook-maker is investing \u201ctens of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[182,99744,105177,181,507,1282,105178,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-176552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-ai-regulation","10":"tag-american-technology-excellence-project","11":"tag-artificial-intelligence","12":"tag-artificialintelligence","13":"tag-meta","14":"tag-pro-ai-pac","15":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}