Midterm AI ads hit $80 million and 69% carry no disclosure
The Wesleyan Media Project counted at least 164 political ads generated or enhanced by AI this cycle, up from 33 in May, and 80% of them came from Republican or pro-Republican sponsors.
Key takeaways
- The Wesleyan Media Project has identified at least 164 political ads generated or enhanced with AI this cycle, carrying just under $80 million in spending.
- Sixty-nine percent of those ads and 78% of the spending behind them ran without a disclaimer that AI was used, and no federal rule requires one.
- The project's May 28 tally found 33 AI ads and about $20 million, so identified spending roughly quadrupled between May 28 and September 4.
- Eighty percent of the identified ads and 83% of the spending came from Republican candidates or pro-Republican groups, up from 70% in May.
Political advertisers have spent just under $80 million this cycle on ads identified as using AI, and 69% of those ads do not disclose it.
The Wesleyan Media Project, a research group at Wesleyan University that tracks political advertising, published the figure on September 4. It has identified at least 164 ads "generated or enhanced through the use of AI," aired on broadcast television, connected TV and digital venues, and it puts the spending behind them at just under $80 million. The group calls that a minimum.
What the tally counts
Wesleyan builds the list four ways: ads that carry an AI disclaimer, ads that news outlets or the ad-tracking firm AdImpact reported used AI, and ads its own coding staff flagged as likely to contain AI and then confirmed. Spending is AdImpact's estimate for each identified ad.
The group says that for many ads it is hard to know definitively whether AI tools were used. In its May release, the project's co-director Michael Franz said the federal government and many states do not require AI use to be labeled, which is why the project treats its total as a floor.
Sixty-nine percent of the ads in the September list, and 78% of the spending, went out without a disclaimer naming AI.
Three months, about four times the spending
The first version of this coding, published on May 28, counted 33 ads and just under $20 million. The September list is 164 ads and just under $80 million, about four times the May spending. Wesleyan's method notes describe the tracking as "undoubtedly an underestimate."
The sponsor mix has moved too. In May, 70% of the identified AI ads came from conservative or Republican sponsors. By September that was 80% of the ads and 83% of the spending, with pro-Democratic sponsors accounting for 11% of the ads and 14% of the spending. Wesleyan classifies the rest as issue ads, ads for independent candidates and similar.
Why a video creator should care
Political advertising is a buyer of production, and it is now a buyer of AI production. In AFP's report on the tally, Isabel Linzer of the Center for Democracy & Technology put the draw plainly: "There's no need to pay for a camera crew or hire actors to create good-looking content on a short timeline."
Wesleyan says it continues to update its list. The next release will show whether the share of undisclosed ads moves.
Wesleyan Media Project publishes the tally and the method behind it at mediaproject.wesleyan.edu.
Sources
- mediaproject.wesleyan.edu - the 164 ads, just under $80 million, the party and disclaimer splits, and the method behind the list
- mediaproject.wesleyan.edu - the first cut of the same coding: 33 ads, at least $19.7 million, 70% conservative or Republican
- sun-sentinel.com - Associated Press story by Melissa Goldin, republished by the Sun-Sentinel: 69% of the ads undisclosed, 80% Republican-sponsored, a patchwork of state laws
- m.economictimes.com - AFP's report on the tally and the undercount caveat