Not only did OpenAI co-founder and longtime CEO Greg Brockman make a regular donation to a major pro-Trump super PAC, but his and his wife Anna’s combined donations in September 2025 were the largest of all at $25 million to “MAGA Inc.” last report. The Brockmans’ donations accounted for nearly a quarter of the six-month fundraising cycle.
This is the latest in a string of examples of tech executives cozying up to President Trump’s administration as the administration pushes to aggressively support the artificial intelligence industry and push back on state-level regulation, something that companies like OpenAI largely oppose. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brockman’s multimillion-dollar donation is not the only example of him spending immense sums under his own name on lobbying activities aimed at eliminating potential regulations of the artificial intelligence industry. The pro-AI super PAC “Leading the Future,” of which Brockman is a prominent supporter, purchased ads targeting Up-to-date York State Assemblyman Alex Bores, a co-sponsor of Up-to-date York’s RAISE Act, which was watered down at the last minute after a concerted lobbying effort.
Although news of the Brockmans’ donations first broke earlier this month, online discussion has been revived following the recent death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, where federal officers fatally shot two people during anti-immigrant attacks. Technical workers across the industry, including many at OpenAI, have been through this signed the letter calling on their CEOs to cancel all contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and publicly condemn the department’s actions. “When Trump threatened to send the National Guard to San Francisco in October, tech industry leaders called the White House,” we read on the petition website. “It worked: Trump backed down. Today we are calling on our CEOs to pick up the phone again.”
But since Trump’s inauguration, more tech leaders have donated to the inaugural fund, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet him, or attended White House dinners by his side. Instead, they received an administration willing to roll back consumer protections and technical regulations. Trump’s Artificial Intelligence Action Plan resurrected a failed Republican attempt to bar states from passing AI laws, targeting tech leaders delight. The modern rule states that “AI is too critical to be stifled by bureaucracy at this early stage” and that the government “should not allow AI-related federal funds to be directed to states with burdensome AI regulations that waste those funds,” although it should also not “interfere with states’ right to enact careful regulations that do not unduly restrict innovation.” The moratorium includes SB 53, the landmark artificial intelligence transparency bill signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in September despite lobbying against it by many tech companies, including OpenAI.
In 2019, Brockman co-authored, among others: blog post about how challenging it is to “change powerful systems… once they are implemented” and that “it is critical to address AGI security and policy risks before they are created.” Six years later, his posts have changed their tone, emphasizing the importance of “approach.”[ing] new technologies with a focus on development.” In the Up-to-date Year’s Eve post on XBrockman wrote that “this year, my wife Anna and I began to engage politically, including through political contributions, which reflected support for policies that support American innovation and constructive dialogue between government and the technology sector.” He added that it was “great to see the willingness of the president and his administration to engage directly with the AI community.”