【AIbase Report】According to Politico, Meta plans to spend tens of millions of dollars to establish a super political action committee (PAC) named "Mobilizing the Economic Transformation of California", supporting California candidates who take a lenient stance on AI regulation. The organization is led by Meta's Vice President of Public Policy Brian Rice, who openly stated that regulatory trends in Sacramento "could stifle innovation, hinder AI development, and endanger California's technological leadership."
Meta's move comes as Silicon Valley increases its investment in the political arena. Recently, Andreessen Horowitz fund (a16z) and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman also pledged to invest 100 million dollars into a new AI-supporting PAC.
Meta's political activities are not the first. Earlier this year, its lobbying team opposed state Senator Scott Wiener's SB-53 bill, which required AI companies to disclose safety protocols and mandatorily reveal incidents when safety issues occur. Last year, Meta also successfully blocked the highly anticipated Children's Cybersecurity Act.
Currently, Meta has donated to several candidates from both parties with limited influence, and the establishment of the new PAC indicates the company's intention to influence California elections more broadly, possibly even affecting the 2026 gubernatorial election
