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U.S. political campaigns use AI both behind the scenes—to draft messages, analyze data and prepare fundraising appeals—and in material voters see, including AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads. Available spending figures show some disclosed subscription payments and spending on identified ads, but they measure different things and do not establish campaigns’ total AI budgets or how widely campaigns use the technology.
How are campaigns using AI?
Campaign use falls into two broad categories: internal operations that support campaign work and communications intended for voters. The evidence for each category comes from different kinds of reporting, so an example of one should not be taken as proof of the scale of the other.
Internal work: drafting, research and analysis
A March 18, 2024 Congressional Research Service overview describes campaign professionals and volunteers using AI to automate or supplement internal labor. Examples include analyzing large datasets, conducting opposition research and drafting fundraising appeals tailored to particular audiences. In reporting on the 2026 election cycle, The Washington Post quoted Republican digital strategist Eric Wilson describing email, ad-copy and script writing as common uses. That is his account of campaign practice, not the result of a survey measuring adoption.
Voter-facing work: AI-generated or enhanced ads
AI is also being used in political advertising. In a May 28, 2026 release, the Wesleyan Media Project said it had identified AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads on broadcast television, connected TV and digital venues. Its definition includes deepfakes: video that depicts someone doing or saying something they did not do or say. AI-assisted advertising can therefore range from content that has been enhanced with AI to fabricated depictions of people.
What do the spending figures show?
The available figures cover two distinct kinds of spending: disclosed payments for OpenAI subscriptions and spending on identified AI-generated or AI-enhanced advertisements. A subscription payment is not an ad-spending figure, and an ad-spending estimate is not a software-cost figure.
| Measure | Reported figure | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Congressional candidate payments | 39 candidates | The Washington Post found that 39 congressional candidates reported payments for an OpenAI subscription in the 2026 election cycle. Two explicitly said in filings that they used the subscription for advertising. |
| Largest candidate payment identified | Around $3,260 | The Washington Post reported that Rep. Mike Lawler had paid around $3,260 for ChatGPT since 2025, the largest candidate amount in its analysis. |
| PAC and party payments | Around 30 organizations | The Washington Post found around 30 PACs and parties reporting OpenAI payments. It identified the Republican National Committee as the largest political spender on OpenAI among them, at roughly $9,700. |
| Spending on identified ads | At least $19.7 million | In its May 28, 2026 release, the Wesleyan Media Project reported at least $19.7 million spent on 33 unique AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads it identified during the 2026 cycle, across broadcast television, connected TV and digital venues. Wesleyan described this as an undercount. |
The subscription figures are from The Washington Post’s analysis of disclosed payments to OpenAI. They do not count payments to every AI vendor, establish how every subscription was used or represent a census of campaign AI use. The advertising estimate concerns spending on particular identified ads, not what campaigns paid for software. Do not add the subscription and ad figures to produce a supposed total AI budget.
What does the ad-tracking data say about sponsorship and disclosure?
The Wesleyan Media Project’s May 2026 tracking snapshot offers a view of identified ads, not all campaign communications. Within that tracked group, 70% of ads came from conservative or Republican sponsors and 18% from liberal or Democratic sponsors; the rest came from sponsors that did not clearly fit those categories. Those shares describe Wesleyan’s tracked ads only and should not be read as the partisan distribution of all campaign AI use.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsDisclosure figures also depend on when the ads were tracked. In its May 2026 snapshot, Wesleyan found an AI-use disclaimer on 48% of the ads it tracked. An Associated Press report published September 25, 2026, citing later Wesleyan tracking, said at least 164 AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads had been identified during the cycle and 69% lacked disclosure. These are findings from different snapshots, not two measurements of the same set of ads at the same time.
Wesleyan’s Michael Franz said the project’s spending analysis “most certainly understates” spending on AI-generated or AI-enhanced ads because labeling is not required by the federal government and many states. Identification is difficult when an ad is not labeled, so a count of ads researchers can identify is not a complete inventory.
Are AI political ads required to disclose that they use AI?
There is no general federal AI-label requirement established by the Federal Election Commission’s 2024 interpretive rule. The FEC said existing fraudulent-misrepresentation provisions apply regardless of the technology used, including AI-assisted media, and that specific applications would be considered case by case. It described the law as “technology neutral.” The rule does not make every AI-assisted campaign ad illegal, and it did not create a blanket requirement to label all AI-generated content.
A March 2024 Congressional Research Service summary said existing disclaimer rules for communications covered by campaign-finance law appeared to apply to AI-created ads, but did not require the audience to be told that AI was used. Separately, an Associated Press report on September 25, 2026, described differing state disclosure requirements. Whether a state rule applies can depend on the kind of AI use and whether the rule was in effect when the ad ran. For a specific communication, check the relevant state’s current law and the applicable federal rules rather than assuming the answer is the same nationwide.
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Federal Election Commission campaign-finance disclosures can show reported payments, but identifying AI-related spending and determining a payment’s purpose requires interpretation. The FEC’s campaign-finance data portal is the official starting point for candidate and committee filings; the figures reported by The Washington Post are its analysis of selected OpenAI payments, not an FEC tally of all AI spending.
Best Value
- Check what is being counted. A subscription payment, an ad buy and the number of identified ads answer different questions.
- Keep the scope attached to every figure. The candidate and committee counts concern reported OpenAI payments; Wesleyan’s estimate concerns identified advertisements.
- Read estimates as incomplete where sources say they are. Disclosure practices and the difficulty of identifying AI use limit what ad trackers can observe.
- Do not infer universal adoption. These reports document examples and reported payments, not a representative estimate of the proportion of campaigns using AI.
Election administration is a separate subject. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission discusses potential uses and risks of AI for election offices and voter services; that material does not establish that campaigns used or paid for a particular tool.
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