Wesleyan identifies 220 AI-assisted political ads drawing more than $137 million

Political ads made at least partly with AI have drawn more than $137 million in spending this election cycle, according to the Wesleyan Media Project. Its October 15 release identified 220 ads through October 11, 2026—a tally that measures advertising carrying generated material, rather than the cost of buying AI tools.

The category covers ads generated partly with AI as well as those generated entirely with it. That distinction gives the count a wider scope than fully synthetic videos alone: an advertisement can enter the tally even when AI produced only part of its content.

Republican sponsors lead by both measures

Republican candidates or groups sponsored 81% of the tracked ads, compared with 12% sponsored by Democrats. Republican-affiliated sponsors’ share of spending was higher still, at 88%. Their financial dominance therefore exceeded their already substantial lead in the number of identified advertisements.

81%Share of ads

Republican candidates or groups sponsored about four in five identified ads.

88%Share of spending

Republican-affiliated sponsors accounted for an even greater share of the money behind those ads.

Disclaimers remain the exception

Only 27% of the tracked AI-generated ads contained a disclaimer, the project found. Nearly three-quarters therefore carried no such notice. The disclosure finding applies to the identified advertisements, including those made only partly with AI.

Erika Franklin Fowler, a Wesleyan professor and co-director of the project, described the difficulty of recognizing some uses of the technology. Speaking to The New York Times, as quoted by The National News Desk, she said: “Some of the ways in which A.I. is used, honestly, if there wasn’t a disclaimer on the ad, it would be hard to know that A.I. was there.”