WASHINGTON — Negative advertising that uses artificial intelligence to attack rival candidates is flooding the U.S. midterm elections, and most of it comes from Republicans, according to a new analysis. AI-generated ads cost about 10% of what traditional ads cost, and there are still no meaningful rules governing them.
A report released on the 19th by the Wesleyan Media Project, a nonprofit that tracks political advertising, found at least 220 AI-generated political ads circulating ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Spending on them reached $137 million (about 182 billion won), far above the $50,000 spent during the 2024 presidential race.
Many were deepfake ads that distorted or misrepresented opposing candidates. In the U.S. Senate race in Texas, the campaign of Republican candidate Ken Paxton circulated a fake ad showing Democratic candidate James Talarico scribbling on a King James Bible, turning it into the "King James Talarico Bible," and saying: "God was not binary and God was not Christian. God said let there be six genders." In the Michigan Senate race, the conservative super PAC Frontline Action has been spreading a synthetic video showing Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed playing a card game with phrases such as "Death to America," "Don't celebrate Thanksgiving" and "Celebrate 9/11."
Of these AI political ads, 81% were produced by Republican candidates or Republican-aligned political action committees, compared with just 12% from the Democratic side. Republicans also accounted for 88% of total AI ad spending. The gap is seen as a result of Democratic candidates taking a more cautious approach, given their position that AI should be regulated.
With the House all but certain to flip to the Democrats and the Senate majority no longer assured, President Donald Trump posted 15 messages in the span of an hour that evening. Trump claimed that "if the Democrats win, they will open the borders and America will fall into the same trouble as France," that crime had fallen to a record low since he took office, and that he had lowered drug prices.
The mood inside the party and the administration is unsettled. The Wall Street Journal reported that senior cabinet officials and aides in the Trump administration are retaining private lawyers in preparation for Democratic control of Congress and the corruption investigations expected to follow. Defense stocks are also falling sharply on expectations that Trump's plan for a $500 billion increase in the defense budget could be blocked as the Democrats gain influence in Congress. According to the Financial Times, the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, the benchmark exchange-traded fund for the U.S. defense sector, fell 16% from early July to mid-October.