A tech industry super PAC is paying TikTok influencers to promote American AI development while casting China as a threat.
Build American AI, a nonprofit linked to a super PAC bankrolled by executives at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, has been compensating influencers to create content that encourages U.S. AI investment and frames Chinese AI capabilities as a national security risk. The campaign targets younger audiences through short-form video with pro-AI messaging.
This reveals how major AI companies are circumventing traditional lobbying by using influencer marketing to shape public opinion on AI policy. The approach avoids disclosing the corporate funding behind the messaging while targeting demographics that typically distrust institutional tech platforms. It also shows how the "China threat" framing is being deployed not just in Washington policy circles but in creator-economy content.
The campaign's funding structure allows major AI labs to advance policy goals through channels that don't carry the same disclosure requirements as direct lobbying or political advertising.