How AI Companies Are Shaping U.S. Policy—and Why TikTok Is Part of the Strategy

Build American AI, a nonprofit organization backed by funding from executives at OpenAI and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, is paying TikTok influencers to promote messages favoring American AI development and highlighting China's progress in artificial intelligence. The campaign sits within a larger industry effort to influence U.S. policy decisions on how AI should be regulated and developed.

The nonprofit works alongside a super PAC—a political committee that can raise unlimited funds—allowing the two organizations to coordinate messaging while staying within legal limits. Build American AI's website states the group's goal is to advance American leadership in transformative technologies and back candidates who support pro-AI policies, regardless of party.

The influencer campaign was triggered partly by recent moves from DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company that released an updated AI model claiming to be significantly cheaper and more efficient than OpenAI's tools. This release signaled that China is closing the gap with the U.S. in artificial intelligence—a development that has pushed American AI companies to accelerate their policy engagement.

How the Influence Campaign Works

Build American AI's TikTok effort is one piece of a broader strategy. Andreessen Horowitz has also submitted formal recommendations to the White House about AI policy, proposing a National AI Competitiveness Institute that would give startups and researchers access to computing power, data, and evaluation tools.

The venture capital firm has hosted policy discussions at its American Dynamism Summit, bringing in congressional representatives to talk about U.S. technological advantage and competition with China. The firm has also hired dedicated policy staff, including Matt Perault as head of AI policy and Collin McCune as head of government affairs. One of its investment leaders, Erin Price-Wright, manages a portfolio specifically focused on companies aligned with what Andreessen Horowitz calls "American Dynamism"—a framework for supporting ventures that contribute to national competitiveness.

This approach combines traditional lobbying with investment strategy, creating multiple channels to push the same message.

A Larger Industry Coordination

Build American AI operates under an umbrella campaign called "Leading the Future," which brings together multiple organizations in the AI ecosystem to align on messaging about American AI leadership, economic growth, national security, and innovation.

The timing matters. Michael Kratsios, serving as chief science and technology adviser to President Trump, has accused Chinese technology companies of copying leading U.S. AI systems and using American expertise without permission. This framing emphasizes intellectual property theft and unfair technology transfer.

The semiconductor industry followed a similar playbook a few years ago. During the push for the CHIPS Act—legislation that provided federal funding to boost domestic chip manufacturing—semiconductor companies used both traditional lobbying and grassroots campaigns to build public support. The AI industry is now applying that same approach, though leaning more heavily on social media platforms to reach voters directly.

The Tension No One Is Talking About

There's an uncomfortable dynamic worth noting here. Build American AI is paying influencers on TikTok—a platform owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company—to warn Americans about the risks of Chinese technological advancement. The organization is essentially using a Chinese-controlled social media platform to amplify concerns about Chinese technology competition. This creates a contradiction that illustrates how interconnected and complex global technology competition has become.

The group's questionnaire for candidates focuses on support for policies that encourage AI development, including funding for research and regulatory frameworks that favor rapid deployment. This signals the group views AI policy as an issue that transcends party lines, even as it maintains specific preferences about what policies should look like.

What This Tells Us

The coordination of influence campaigns across both traditional policy channels and social media suggests that major AI companies and their investors now see public opinion as central to shaping technology policy. The decision to invest in influencer marketing on TikTok signals that the industry believes reaching voters—not just policymakers—is essential to securing favorable regulatory outcomes.

The Build American AI structure allows for coordinated messaging across different types of political activity while respecting legal boundaries. If this approach succeeds in influencing policy, other technology sectors may adopt similar multi-channel strategies for their own advocacy efforts.

It is worth flagging that this kind of coordinated industry advocacy can shape policy in ways that serve the companies' interests first and the broader public interest second. Influence campaigns often operate below public awareness, and voters may not realize the funding and coordination behind the messages they see on social media. Transparency about who is backing these efforts matters for understanding whose interests are being represented in policy debates.