AI PACs Have Dumped Nearly $1 Million Into an Obscure Senate Race
AI PACs Have Dumped Nearly $1 Million Into an Obscure Senate Race
AI超级政治行动委员会向一场冷门的参议院竞选投入近100万美元
Major super PACs associated with AI labs and investors have poured close to $1 million into incumbent Republican Mike Rounds’s South Dakota senate race, seeking to shape the outcome of a noncompetitive race amid a critical national debate over AI regulation.
与人工智能实验室和投资者相关的几大超级政治行动委员会（Super PACs）已向共和党现任参议员迈克·朗兹（Mike Rounds）的南达科他州参议院竞选投入了近100万美元。在全国围绕人工智能监管展开激烈辩论之际，他们试图借此影响这场本无悬念的竞选结果。
Rounds has been the beneficiary this cycle of around $600,000 in spending by outside groups, with the vast majority of that figure coming from the super PAC Defend American Jobs, which receives funding from a super PAC financed by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
在本届选举周期中，朗兹已从外部团体获得了约60万美元的资金支持。其中绝大部分资金来自“捍卫美国就业”（Defend American Jobs）超级政治行动委员会，该委员会的资金来源则是由风险投资公司安德森·霍洛维茨（Andreessen Horowitz）资助的另一个超级政治行动委员会。
He has also received roughly $215,000 directly from the employees and super PACs affiliated with AI labs, most notably Anthropic, as well as a constellation of other tech companies including Google and Microsoft, according to FEC filings.
根据联邦选举委员会（FEC）的文件显示，他还从人工智能实验室（最著名的是Anthropic）的员工及相关超级政治行动委员会，以及包括谷歌和微软在内的多家科技公司那里，直接获得了约21.5万美元的捐款。
With fewer than 50 days until the midterm elections in November, recent polls show Rounds ahead of the independent candidate Brian Beng after the Democratic candidate Julian Beaudion dropped out last month.
距离11月的中期选举还有不到50天，在民主党候选人朱利安·博迪恩（Julian Beaudion）上个月退选后，近期民调显示朗兹领先于独立候选人布莱恩·本（Brian Beng）。
Rounds has so far raised more from tech groups than from donors in South Dakota, and this spending reflects a new effort by AI labs to deploy vast war chests to shape thorny issues on AI and the data centers that power it. Rounds has been viewed by AI executives as a top supporter of the industry, which could prove crucial in the next Congress when AI regulation is expected to become a top priority, according to congressional aides familiar with the matter.
朗兹目前从科技团体筹集的资金已超过了南达科他州本土捐赠者的捐款。这些支出反映了人工智能实验室的一项新举措：利用巨额资金来影响有关人工智能及其背后数据中心的棘手议题。据熟悉此事的国会助手称，人工智能高管们将朗兹视为该行业的头号支持者，这在下一届国会中可能至关重要，因为届时人工智能监管预计将成为首要议题。
It also appears to reflect how AI labs have become focused on keeping allies, which have been in short supply on Capitol Hill as lawmakers spring up a raft of bills as they react to public anxiety around AI safety concerns.
这也反映出人工智能实验室正专注于维系盟友关系。随着立法者们纷纷提出一系列法案以回应公众对人工智能安全问题的焦虑，这些盟友在国会山正变得愈发稀缺。
A spokesperson for Rounds did not respond to a request for comment.
朗兹的发言人未回应置评请求。
On Thursday, Leading the Future, the super PAC funded in part by OpenAI president Greg Brockman, along with investors Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreesen, announced that it would put $2 million towards a raft of Senate Republicans that have been supportive of the AI or crypto industry. The list included Rounds.
周四，由OpenAI总裁格雷格·布罗克曼（Greg Brockman）以及投资者本·霍洛维茨（Ben Horowitz）和马克·安德森（Marc Andreesen）共同资助的超级政治行动委员会“引领未来”（Leading the Future）宣布，将向一批支持人工智能或加密货币行业的共和党参议员投入200万美元。朗兹也在名单之列。
In South Dakota, AI regulation is already a live issue after the state legislature passed a bill earlier this year forcing hyperscalers to bear a larger share of the water and energy costs associated with powering data centers.
在南达科他州，人工智能监管已成为一个现实议题。今年早些时候，州议会通过了一项法案，强制超大规模数据中心运营商承担更多与数据中心电力供应相关的水电成本。
Data centers have been the subject of a bitter fight among Republicans in the state legislature, which voted against giving tax breaks for equipment and software purchases required by data centers earlier this year, stalling construction of a planned development by Applied Digital, a company that builds and designs data centers.
数据中心已成为该州共和党议员之间激烈争斗的对象。州议会今年早些时候投票否决了为数据中心所需的设备和软件采购提供税收减免，导致数据中心建设与设计公司Applied Digital的一项开发计划被迫停工。
Rounds also ultimately endorsed adding restrictions on data centers, although his senior aide and former chief of staff, Robert Skjonsberg, is a registered lobbyist for Meta for matters before the South Dakota legislature. (Meta operates a network of data centers, though there isn’t currently a Meta-affiliated center in South Dakota.) Rounds’ office told Politico that their general counsel consulted with the Senate ethics committee about the unusual arrangement and was told there was no conflict of interest.
朗兹最终也支持对数据中心增加限制，尽管他的高级助手兼前幕僚长罗伯特·斯琼斯伯格（Robert Skjonsberg）是Meta在南达科他州议会事务的注册游说者。（Meta运营着一个数据中心网络，尽管目前在南达科他州还没有Meta旗下的中心。）朗兹的办公室告诉《政客》（Politico），他们的总法律顾问曾就这一不同寻常的安排咨询过参议院道德委员会，并被告知不存在利益冲突。
Concerns about data centers have been bipartisan across the country: A recent Gallup poll for instance found that seven out of 10 Americans are opposed to data center development, given their outsized draw upon water and energy resources that local communities often end up subsidizing.
全国范围内对数据中心的担忧已跨越了党派界限：例如，盖洛普（Gallup）最近的一项民意调查发现，十分之七的美国人反对开发数据中心，因为它们对水和能源资源的过度消耗往往最终由当地社区来补贴。