// WIRED US/UK — INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE
Inside Elon Musk’s Midterm Spending Spree
This week on Uncanny Valley, Zoë Schiffer and Leah Feiger dive into how Elon Musk’s America PAC is spending millions on the most consequential Senate races of the 2026 midterms—and how most of that money goes to opposing Democrats rather than supporting Republicans. They also break down effective altruism, the once-niche philosophy now at the center of the AI safety debate, and why the Trump administration has called it a dangerous ideology. Plus, they discuss the backlash against the graphic designer who created the logo for Meta’s AI assistant, Muse.
You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write to us at [email protected].
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Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Leah Feiger: Hey everyone, this is Leah. We wanted to share with you that Uncanny Valley is a finalist for not one or two, but three Signal Awards. The judges pick who wins, but listeners also have a say with the listener's choice vote. You can go to the links we included in the show notes and vote for us. We promise it takes just a minute and your vote goes a long way. OK, onto the show.
Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED’s Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer, contributing editor.
Leah Feiger: And I'm Leah Feiger, director of politics and science. This week we're doing a deep dive into how Elon Musk's America PAC has spent millions of dollars to influence some of the most consequential races this midterm season. WIRED has created a tracker to follow America PAC's support in real time. We're going to take you through why these races matter and how Musk is throwing Republicans all of this cash.
Zoë Schiffer: We're also going to break down the once obscure philosophy that now seems to be everywhere from X threads to The Economist cover, effective altruism. We'll talk about what this ideology is actually all about, why many AI researchers subscribe to it, and how it has been actively shaping the debate around AI safety.
Leah Feiger: And we're going to get into why the designer of Meta's Muse logo has been receiving a ton of backlash. Zoë spoke with her all about it this week and she had a lot to say. Zoë, it's just me and you this week. We've officially pushed Brian off a cliff.