Anthropic sent $900,000 to Democratic committees across California in a last-minute burst of political giving, according to a late disclosure form filed with the state on October 30. The bulk of the money, $525,000, went straight to the California Democratic Party, while county parties and a get-out-the-vote group split the rest in the campaign's final stretch before Election Day.
The filing, detailed by The San Francisco Standard, shows Anthropic gave $150,000 to a get-out-the-vote group and $45,000 each to the Democratic parties in San Francisco, San Mateo, Orange, Fresno and Siskiyou counties. The $45,000 check to the San Francisco Democratic Party was Anthropic's only contribution to that local party this cycle, and it arrived after the party had already put $400,000 into two closely watched state Senate races.
Money Aimed at Two Knife-Edge Senate Races
San Francisco Democratic Party chair Nancy Tung said the company's donation enabled the party to support two priority races in the California Senate: state Sen. Melissa Hurtado's contest in the Central Valley and state Sen. Catherine Blakespear's race in Southern California. The party contributed $300,000 to Hurtado's campaign in three six-figure checks across September and October, and $100,000 to Blakespear's campaign toward the end of September.
Both seats sit near the top of Republicans' target list this cycle.
Tung said Anthropic had no say in how the money was spent.
A Party Flush With Late Cash
The San Francisco Democratic Party raised $850,000 through state filings dated September 1 and another $738,000 between September 20 and October 17, leaving it with $938,746 in cash on hand by mid-October, per the same reporting.
California Democratic Party strategist Robin Swanson said the state party's contributions help elect Democrats, defeat Proposition 39 and keep voter-protection programs running, the outlet reported. The late timing of Anthropic's check is itself notable under state rules: contributions of $1,000 or more received in the final 16 days before a state election must be reported within 24 hours, according to the California Secretary of State, which is why the donation surfaced publicly just days before voters go to the polls.
Part of a Much Bigger Spending Pattern
The $900,000 push builds on money Anthropic had already put into California politics this cycle. The company previously gave $850,000 to the California Democratic Party and more than $100,000 to Democratic legislative candidates.
Anthropic's political footprint extends well past Sacramento and San Francisco. The company has given $40 million this year to Public First Action, a group advocating for AI regulation, according to the San Francisco Standard's reporting. Anthropic committed that money to Public First Action in two $20 million installments, one in February and one in July, as reported by CNBC.
Anthropic employees separately contributed a combined $3.83 million to federal campaigns in the first half of 2026, and the company has launched an employee-funded political action committee overseen by a bipartisan board, which, per The Hill, spent more than $255,000 in the third quarter — split between $130,000 for Republican campaigns and $125,500 for Democratic ones. The company is also building a program to engage with presidential candidates ahead of the 2028 election.
Why the AI Industry Is Spending So Heavily
California's legislative races have become a proxy fight for AI regulation more broadly. Spending on California Assembly and Senate races topped $128 million as of October 29, up from $74.2 million in 2022 and nearly $100 million in 2024, according to CalMatters. Meta has also been active in California political spending, while tech investors Tim Draper and Chris Larsen have funded the GROW California committee to the tune of more than $23 million, and Google- and Meta-backed California Leads has spent nearly $152 million this year.
Anthropic generally backs stronger safeguards for powerful AI systems, while other industry players resist additional restrictions — a split that has spilled into races far outside California. The Anthropic-linked Jobs and Democracy PAC spent about $15 million supporting state Assemblymember Alex Bores in a New York primary against $8.3 million in opposition spending from Think Big, according to CNBC.
