For two election cycles, misinformation and election experts have wondered: Will content generated with artificial intelligence dominate races and mislead voters?

Campaigns and their supporters still use conventional ads to try to influence voters. But there were more AI-generated ads in the 2026 midterms compared with the 2024 election.

And while this wasn’t “the ‘AI election’,” AI ads are the new normal, said Christina Walker, a University of Georgia international affairs assistant professor who studies how AI shapes political information.

About 300 political ads were generated or enhanced by AI this election cycle, according to analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks and analyzes political advertising.

(AdImpact screenshots of AI-generated ads in the 2026 midterm elections.)

And the people and groups behind those ads spent about $187 million promoting them online and on TV, the Wesleyan Media Project said — more than 3,000 times the approximate $50,000 spent during the 2024 election…