June 26, 2026
Democracy.exe has entered the chat
The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections
Big AI’s election cash splash has commenters yelling “so this is just legal bribery?”
TLDR: A new podcast episode says AI and crypto companies are pouring huge sums into US elections, with Molly White’s tracker following the money. Commenters were less shocked than bitter, joking about robot voting rights and arguing this looks a lot like old-fashioned corporate influence with a futuristic label.
A new Blood in the Machine show has launched with a bang, and its first target is a juicy one: the claim that AI and crypto companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence US elections. The episode features journalist Molly White and points readers toward Tech Influence Watch, a project tracking who’s spending what in politics. But in the comments, the real fireworks weren’t about podcast production values or launch-day nerves — they were about whether this is shocking at all.
The hottest reaction was a giant, weary “welcome to America” shrug. One commenter basically said: what major industry hasn’t been buying influence for decades? Another twisted the knife with the line that this is just the American tradition of “voting with your wallet” — except the wallet belongs to giant companies, not regular people. That’s where the drama landed: is AI behaving like a uniquely dangerous new power, or just speedrunning the same old corporate playbook with more money and worse vibes?
And of course, the thread delivered jokes. The darkest laugh came from the commenter wondering how long until “AI agents have voting rights too” becomes real — a one-liner that perfectly captured the mood: cynical, suspicious, and a little bit meme-poisoned. Skeptics also pushed back on the article for not showing enough hard numbers, arguing that without scale it’s easy to inflame people. So yes, the news is about election money — but the comments turned it into a referendum on whether democracy is already for sale.
Key Points
- •Blood in the Machine launched a pilot episode for a new show and podcast focused on the AI industry’s political influence.
- •The first episode examines claims that the AI industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to affect the current US election cycle.
- •The show’s first guest is Molly White, who discusses AI and crypto money in politics.
- •White’s project, Tech Influence Watch, is described as an effort to track election-related spending by AI and crypto companies.
- •The article positions the show as a platform to document activism and resistance related to AI, including data center protests, worker organizing, and opposition to AI adoption in schools and offices.