OpenAI President Greg Brockman Pulls Support From AI Super PAC Leading the Future

OpenAI President Greg Brockman has withdrawn his support for Leading the Future, a controversial AI industry super PAC, according to a New York Times report. About a year after Brockman and his wife pledged a combined $50 million to the organization, he is walking back support following intense backlash.

Leading the Future was formed in 2025 with the mission of electing pro-AI candidates in the 2026 midterm elections and opposing candidates who advocate stricter regulation of artificial intelligence and data center expansion. The super PAC, also backed by Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has spent tens of millions of dollars on midterm primaries and successfully campaigned against AI critics such as New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores.

Public sentiment toward AI and data centers has soured, making the issue a major fault line for candidates in both parties. In September 2026, more than 100 Democratic campaign staffers signed an open letter urging party leaders to reject donations from Leading the Future, and Politico has referred to the group as "the Death Star" of the AI political universe.

According to the NYT report, Brockman has already donated the first $25 million but will not donate the remaining amount. In June 2026, OpenAI said Brockman's involvement was "in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the company." The same month, Brockman wrote in a Slack message that he felt terrible about the distraction the group was causing, adding: "We've donated $25m so far, and have no plans to donate more at this time." In July 2026, WIRED reported that several OpenAI employees had donated over $200,000 to a super PAC created to counterbalance Leading the Future's influence.

The report comes as OpenAI has been dealing with major problems related to AI safety guardrails.