Seven-figure blitz as GOP embraces push to compete with China in booming new tech space

FIRST ON FOX: Three sitting Republican lawmakers, all facing midterm elections for U.S. Senate in less than two months, are paving the way for a pro-artificial intelligence push as Washington looks to balance regulation with American innovation despite the public's increasing skepticism over the emerging technology.

The conservative Alliance for a Better Future (ABF) is pouring millions into backing the campaigns of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, according to new ads shared exclusively with Fox News Digital ahead of their release.

The lawmakers, ABF says, mirror President Donald Trump's balanced stance on applying both safeguards and common sense to AI developments. When speaking on the topic in June, Trump said, "[AI] can be used for tremendous good, mostly good and some bad. And the bad we have to stop."

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President Donald Trump is seen during a meeting at Farmleigh House in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

The advertisements come as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, over the weekend, warned the industry that his company helps lead to give safety measures more time to catch up with rapidly advancing AI capabilities. Just days earlier, an Anthropic researcher resigned while publicly raising concerns about the technology's risks. Anthropic is most known for its LLM AI Claude, one of the leading chatbots in the U.S.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the father of ChatGPT, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis all expressed support for Amodei’s stance on slowing the pace of AI development.

Trump on Monday rejected the calls for implementing safeguards and restrictions on AI, arguing the technology needs a "STRONG AND SMART" president rather than added restraints.

The new advertisements, which will run throughout September, follow the ABF's previously unreported $1 million donation made to MAGA Inc. last week to promote candidates who share the group's values of pushing both innovation and security in emerging technologies like AI.

But the ads aren't limited to praising Republicans — they also take shots at the perceived risks ABF believes could result from allowing socialist lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to lead policies dictating the direction of AI.

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Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, speaks during a campaign event with Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, not pictured, ahead of a primary election at IBEW Local 103 in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"The same people who consistently fail you will write an AI rulebook for their benefit," the advertisement reads as images of Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., appear onscreen.

Security concerns have been top of mind for many Americans and AI experts as the United States races to stay ahead of China in technology developments, with worry that the rapidly increasing growth of AI poses national and cybersecurity threats.

"The only way we win the AI race against China is to build a technology that is trusted by the American people," ABF CEO Janet Kelly said in a statement to Fox News Digital on the new ad buys.

"We cannot cede this responsibility to Socialists like Bernie Sanders, who have a track record of destroying our economy and palling around with our enemies," she continued. "Conservatives like Susan Collins, Roger Marshall, and Ashley Hinson know the time is now to enact an agenda that ensures AI is built with American values."

Sanders’ office did not reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on being singled out in the campaign ads.

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Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, on July 24, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Kelly, the former secretary of Health in Virginia, warned that China will "cheat and steal and lie" to beat the U.S. in the AI race in a policy event hosted by Breitbart news last week. She emphasized the need for America to be both diligent and urgent in developing this technology at a pace that puts the U.S. above foreign adversaries.

Collins, Marshall and Hinson have each backed policies that align with ABF’s goal to pursue AI development with protections that work to combat any emerging risks.

Hinson has argued that the U.S. must maintain its technological edge over Beijing while being thorough in analyzing AI's risks. Marshall acknowledged AI as a tool to assist, not replace American workers — also backing measures addressing its workforce and energy impacts.

Collins has supported federal investment in advanced computing while championing in Maine safeguards against deceptive AI-generated election content.

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ABF is a conservative AI policy organization that believes that as the technology continues to rapidly develop, American values should be prioritized — protecting children, the economy and national security.

The three GOP lawmakers are all Republican nominees for Senate seats in the upcoming midterm elections for their respective states.

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Collins, Marshall and Hinson’s offices did not reply to Fox News Digital’s request to comment on the new advertisements and clarify their stances on AI.