AI-backed Super PACs Spend Nearly $1 Million Supporting South Dakota Senator Rounds

Super PACs connected to artificial-intelligence companies and venture-capital backers have collectively poured nearly $1 million into incumbent Republican Mike Rounds’s Senate bid in South Dakota. Roughly $600,000 of that amount originates from the Defend American Jobs super PAC, which is funded by a venture-capital-backed entity linked to Andreessen Horowitz, while about $215,000 comes directly from AI-lab employees and affiliated PACs, notably Anthropic, as well as contributions from Google and Microsoft.

With less than 50 days before the November midterms, polls show Rounds ahead of independent Brian Beng after Democrat Julian Beaudion exited the race. Rounds has raised more from tech groups than from in-state donors, reflecting AI firms’ strategy to back lawmakers supportive of the industry ahead of expected federal AI regulation. The state has already grappled with data-center issues, passing a bill that shifts water and energy costs to hyperscalers and stalling a project by Applied Digital. A spokesperson for Rounds declined comment, and his office said the Senate ethics committee found no conflict of interest.