Campaigns
Senate GOP uses James Talarico’s words against him with deepfake attack ad
Washington Examiner
“The Talarico video includes a small watermark disclosing it is AI-generated and features several tweets from the years prior to launching his Senate campaign.”
The Texas Senate Primary Was a Preview of Creator Wars to Come
Wired
“When a creator believes that a politician is breaking that trust, there’s little to stop them from sharing a hostile post that could go viral and spin out of control. The relationship could quickly become a pain, instead of an asset.”
How Talarico Won Texas Democrats With Love, Luck and a Little Restraint
New York Times
“He ran ads through his state legislative account to build a list of supporters he would tap for his Senate campaign. State records show he spent nearly $750,000 on digital ads over five weeks, from July 23 to the end of August. Donors started opening their wallets even before he was a Senate candidate, raising about $1.3 million in that same period.”
Jesse Jackson Jr. turns to AI to amplify Rush endorsement
Politico
“Rush, who has become familiar with AI technology’s ability to restore his voice for podcasting and broadcast interviews, said he recognizes there are concerns that it can be misused in political campaigns. But in this case, he said in an interview, 'It’s being used in a positive way. It’s being used for the right reasons.'”
Design
Why James Talarico's typography signals a new kind of politics
Yello
“This type wasn’t whipped up by a computer, it suggests, but made with a human touch. It’s not unlike the hand-drawn logo New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign used last year, which was inspired by city street signs and Bollywood movie posters.”
Disinformation
YouTube expands AI deepfake detection to politicians, government officials, and journalists
TechCrunch
“Similar to YouTube’s existing Content ID system, which detects copyright-protected material in users’ uploaded videos, the likeness detection feature looks for simulated faces made with AI tools.”
Social Media
On Facebook, it now pays to post about politics
Chaotic Era
“While most creators I spoke with declined to share exact revenue figures, one said they were earning 'six figures' a month from Facebook. Others described monthly payouts ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. Most shockingly, one prominent liberal news creator shared a screenshot showing a January 2026 payout of $268,000. Annualized, that would put this one individual’s potential Facebook earnings at roughly $3 million this year—just for posting.”
Technology
You're Not Going to Be Replaced by AI. You're Going to Be Lapped.
Anchor Change
“Voters have been trained to expect nothing back from campaigns. The campaigns that use AI to close that loop — to follow up, to personalize, to actually listen at scale — are going to feel categorically different to the people they’re talking to.”
Politics in the Age of Algorithms: How Technology & Media Fragmentation Are Changing Elections
Political Trade Secrets
“Drawing on years of campaign experience and new research into voter behavior, they unpack why the old campaign playbook needs a system update—and what campaigns must do to adapt.”
Kalshi Suspended a California Politician and a YouTuber for Insider Trading
Wired
“In the case of the political candidate, Kalshi cited a video posted online 'that appeared to show him trading on his own candidacy.' Kalshi froze the candidate’s accounts and reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the government agency that oversees prediction markets. It instituted a five-year ban and is fining the account a penalty 10 times the size of the initial trade, which Kalshi says it intends to donate to charity.”