OpenAI President Greg Brockman has emerged as one of the largest political donors in the tech industry, funneling a combined $75 million into Republican and AI-focused political action committees in a dramatic political shift that signals the industry’s growing influence over the incoming Trump administration.
A Sudden Political Transformation
Brockman and his wife Anna made headlines with two major donations in 2025: $25 million to MAGA Inc., the main pro-Trump super PAC, and $50 million to Leading the Future, a super PAC dedicated to AI deregulation that he helped found with venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The donations, revealed through Federal Election Commission filings, represent a remarkable reversal for an executive whose previous political contributions were limited to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The timing of Brockman’s contributions—particularly the $25 million to MAGA Inc. in September 2025—proved strategically prescient. His donation made the Brockmans the largest donors in that fundraising cycle, accounting for nearly one-fourth of the PAC’s total haul at a critical moment before the presidential election.
Strategic Alignment with Trump’s AI Agenda
The payoff came quickly. Since Trump’s inauguration, the administration has aggressively advanced policies favorable to the tech industry. Trump’s AI Action Plan, unveiled after taking office, explicitly targets state-level AI regulations that companies like OpenAI have actively fought against.
The plan declares that “AI is far too important to smother in bureaucracy at this early stage” and threatens to withhold federal funding from states with “burdensome AI regulations”—a direct challenge to regulations like California’s SB 53, the landmark AI transparency law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2025.
OpenAI’s political strategy extends beyond Trump’s super PAC. Brockman’s donations to Leading the Future have funded advertising campaigns targeting state-level lawmakers who support AI regulation. The super PAC has focused on opposing bills like New York’s RAISE Act, which aimed to establish AI guardrails.
A Leader at OpenAI’s Center
As co-founder and president of OpenAI since 2015, Brockman has been instrumental in the company’s rise. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Stripe before leaving to help establish OpenAI with Sam Altman and Elon Musk. His role as one of OpenAI’s most influential executives makes his political positioning particularly significant for the AI industry’s regulatory trajectory.
Brockman’s political transformation underscores a broader trend in tech: major executives making substantial financial commitments to align with the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda, particularly on artificial intelligence policy where federal funding and enforcement mechanisms could determine industry winners and losers.
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