Wealthy tech leaders have poured tens of millions of dollars into entities and causes supporting President Donald Trump, and a new “blockbuster story” from The Lever tied those contributions to the “killing” of a major regulatory safeguard.
Describing the findings as “money in, regulations out,” The Lever’s Freddy Brewster mapped out a timeline of events showing that the Trump administration’s axing of a first-of-its-kind rule regulating AI companies came shortly after a $25 million contribution to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports the president.
“Federal officials said the rule was needed to prevent ‘dangerous accidents’ that ‘could result in injury or even loss of life,’” Brewster wrote, describing a rule introduced during the Biden administration that would have required AI companies to regularly report developments in the rapidly advancing technology.
“But within a year, the regulation was dead, amid a flood of tech industry campaign cash to President Donald Trump’s political machine — and a pressure campaign waged by the same AI giants now claiming to have always welcomed federal regulation," according to documents reviewed by The Lever.
The rule was first proposed Sept. 11, 2024, and remained under consideration through December 2025 “as Trump collected ever more in campaign and inaugural fund donations from top AI companies,” Brewster noted.
Tech leaders contributed millions to pro-Trump entities and efforts starting in 2024, with donations ramping up after Trump was sworn into office in early 2025.
Tools for Humanity, a company linked to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, contributed $5 million to MAGA Inc. in January 2025; OpenAI investors Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen contributed a combined $9 million to MAGA Inc. in March 2025; and Tesla CEO Elon Musk contributed $5 million to MAGA Inc. in June 2025.
In September 2025, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife gave a combined $25 million to MAGA Inc., and less than three months later, the Biden-era AI rule was “formally withdrawn from the federal regulatory agenda,” Brewster wrote.