Meta pulls back $25 million from its midterm political spending push

Meta has taken back $25 million it had put into its midterm election operation. The money came from two places. The American Technology Excellence Project, a super PAC Meta created to back candidates friendly to artificial intelligence, sent back $22 million. A California advocacy group the company had also funded returned another $3 million. Where the money went, and where it came back from The American Technology Excellence Project, known as ATEP, launched in September 2025. Meta had given the super PAC $45 million. The $22 million refund means nearly half of that funding has now gone back to its source. By the end of 2025, ATEP had used only around $329,000 of its funds. That money went to polling, consulting, and legal work. The second refund, $3 million, came from a California-focused advocacy group. Meta’s broader political plan for the 2026 cycle carries a $65 million budget. That money is spread across four super PACs, all focused on state-level candidates seen as friendly to the tech industry. A company that used to sit out elections For most of its history, Meta kept its distance from direct election spending. That changed over 2025 and 2026, when the company sharply expa...