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Utah Primaries Highlight AI Policy Battle as Super PACs Spend Over $1.3 Million
Utah’s congressional primaries have become a high‑stakes arena for AI regulation, as the nation’s two largest AI‑focused super PACs pour more than $1.3 million into the state’s races. The money is aimed at electing lawmakers who are expected to back legislative safeguards for the newest generations of AI models.
Defending Our Values, a committee run by former Utah representative Chris Stewart, spent nearly $880,000 on television and other advertising to back Republican incumbent Celeste Maloy in the 3rd‑District primary against former state lawmaker Phil Lyman. The group is funded by Public First, a bipartisan nonprofit created by Stewart and former Oklahoma representative Brad Carson. Public First’s stated purpose is to support candidates who will pursue safeguards for AI development.
Anthropic, an AI developer valued at just under $1 trillion, announced a $20 million donation to Public First in February to help elect lawmakers who balance AI innovation with child safety and transparency regulations. In contrast, OpenAI does not donate to political committees; its co‑founder Greg Brockman has donated $100 million to the anti‑regulatory campaign of the Leading the Future PAC.
Leading the Future operates a network of PACs, including Think Big, which reserved $450,000 of television advertising this week to support former representative Ben McAdams in the 1st‑District Democratic primary. McAdams is running against three other candidates.
Utah’s legislature has advanced model bills that combine AI consumer protection with liability mitigation, even as a large data‑center project has raised concerns about the environmental impact of AI infrastructure. Republican Phil Lyman and Democratic contender Nate Blouin have framed the election around candidates’ ties to Big Tech. The June primaries give voters a chance to signal their positions on the rapidly evolving politics of AI.
Stewart, who served on the House Intelligence Committee, said his involvement in the AI regulation debate was motivated by his experience with Project Maven, the Pentagon program that integrated AI into military intelligence. He has highlighted privacy, child protection and pre‑deployment testing of models as key concerns.
Since its launch in November, Public First has spent millions of dollars in races across the country, supporting candidates such as Nebraska senator Pete Ricketts and Texas candidate Carlos De La Cruz. Maloy has received the most independent expenditures in her favor; she worked as Stewart’s chief legal counsel before running for the seat he vacated in 2023.
Maloy stated that her campaign cannot coordinate with outside groups and that she is focused on communicating her conservative record directly to voters. She has been active on AI regulation, serving as a broker between Utah lawmakers and the White House after the administration halted a proposed federal requirement for risk disclosures on new AI models.
Phil Lyman criticized the endorsement by Defending Our Values, arguing that Maloy should have disclosed the PAC’s support during a debate on AI data centers. The PAC is neutral on data‑center policy.
Nate Blouin has called for a moratorium on new AI infrastructure, while Ben McAdams disclosed owning stock in a large‑scale AI data center under construction in Delta. Both McAdams and Blouin oppose the Box Elder County Stratos Project.
Stewart maintains that a middle ground is possible, where candidates can prioritize both innovation and regulation. Public First’s bipartisan structure, supported by a coalition of Republican and Democratic PACs, is based on surveys indicating that 80 % of voters believe the government should impose guardrails on AI development, even if it slows progress.
The Utah primaries illustrate how much AI industry stakeholders are willing to invest to elect lawmakers who share their views on regulation. The outcome of these races will likely influence the direction of AI policy at the state and federal levels.
Defending Our Values, a committee run by former Utah representative Chris Stewart, spent nearly $880,000 on television and other advertising to back Republican incumbent Celeste Maloy in the 3rd‑District primary against former state lawmaker Phil Lyman. The group is funded by Public First, a bipartisan nonprofit created by Stewart and former Oklahoma representative Brad Carson. Public First’s stated purpose is to support candidates who will pursue safeguards for AI development.
Anthropic, an AI developer valued at just under $1 trillion, announced a $20 million donation to Public First in February to help elect lawmakers who balance AI innovation with child safety and transparency regulations. In contrast, OpenAI does not donate to political committees; its co‑founder Greg Brockman has donated $100 million to the anti‑regulatory campaign of the Leading the Future PAC.
Leading the Future operates a network of PACs, including Think Big, which reserved $450,000 of television advertising this week to support former representative Ben McAdams in the 1st‑District Democratic primary. McAdams is running against three other candidates.
Utah’s legislature has advanced model bills that combine AI consumer protection with liability mitigation, even as a large data‑center project has raised concerns about the environmental impact of AI infrastructure. Republican Phil Lyman and Democratic contender Nate Blouin have framed the election around candidates’ ties to Big Tech. The June primaries give voters a chance to signal their positions on the rapidly evolving politics of AI.
Stewart, who served on the House Intelligence Committee, said his involvement in the AI regulation debate was motivated by his experience with Project Maven, the Pentagon program that integrated AI into military intelligence. He has highlighted privacy, child protection and pre‑deployment testing of models as key concerns.
Since its launch in November, Public First has spent millions of dollars in races across the country, supporting candidates such as Nebraska senator Pete Ricketts and Texas candidate Carlos De La Cruz. Maloy has received the most independent expenditures in her favor; she worked as Stewart’s chief legal counsel before running for the seat he vacated in 2023.
Maloy stated that her campaign cannot coordinate with outside groups and that she is focused on communicating her conservative record directly to voters. She has been active on AI regulation, serving as a broker between Utah lawmakers and the White House after the administration halted a proposed federal requirement for risk disclosures on new AI models.
Phil Lyman criticized the endorsement by Defending Our Values, arguing that Maloy should have disclosed the PAC’s support during a debate on AI data centers. The PAC is neutral on data‑center policy.
Nate Blouin has called for a moratorium on new AI infrastructure, while Ben McAdams disclosed owning stock in a large‑scale AI data center under construction in Delta. Both McAdams and Blouin oppose the Box Elder County Stratos Project.
Stewart maintains that a middle ground is possible, where candidates can prioritize both innovation and regulation. Public First’s bipartisan structure, supported by a coalition of Republican and Democratic PACs, is based on surveys indicating that 80 % of voters believe the government should impose guardrails on AI development, even if it slows progress.
The Utah primaries illustrate how much AI industry stakeholders are willing to invest to elect lawmakers who share their views on regulation. The outcome of these races will likely influence the direction of AI policy at the state and federal levels.
