AI FUELS FIRST ELECTION CYCLE WITH MONEY AND ANXIETY

AI has become central to this election cycle in three distinct ways. Campaign funding increasingly flows from AI-focused investors and companies, giving candidates backed by tech money a significant advantage. Meanwhile, the same technology generates political advertisements at scale, allowing campaigns to target voters with personalized messaging at unprecedented speed and volume. Voter anxiety about AI has also become a campaign issue itself. Concerns about job displacement, deepfakes, and algorithmic bias resonate across the electorate, prompting candidates to address AI policy directly. This represents the first major election where artificial intelligence functions simultaneously as a financial engine, operational tool, and anxiety flashpoint. The dynamics reveal how emerging technologies become intertwined with political systems before regulatory frameworks catch up, and how public fears about innovation shape electoral narratives.