- Tuesday's 3rd Congressional District Republican debate exposed fractures over national AI policy.
- Incumbent Rep. Celeste Maloy resists federal AI control while challenger Phil Lyman warned against government surveillance risks.
- Anthropic's $1 million ad support for Maloy also highlights AI's influence on the election.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Republican candidates for Congress diverged on one of the top issues dividing the state and disrupting the Trump administration during a debate Tuesday night.
The topic was how the most powerful lawmakers in America should regulate the deployment of the world's most powerful emerging technology: artificial intelligence.
Rep. Celeste Maloy touted her role in resisting White House-led federal efforts to preempt state regulation of AI, saying progress should be paired with protections.
Maloy's challenger, Phil Lyman, suggested that the government should stay away from controlling the development of AI technology, which could quickly become a tool for surveillance.
The debate, hosted by the Utah GOP Elephant Club and Washington County Republican Women, was hosted by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who is considering a run for Utah governor in 2028.
Candidates aligned on limiting government spending and local control of public lands, but split on whether U.S. institutions can be trusted to find solutions on the debt and AI.
AI money in the 3rd District
Utah's 3rd Congressional District GOP primary is a prime example of how the battle over the future of AI policy is shaping the election landscape.
A group funded by what many consider the most advanced AI firm on the planet, Anthropic, has dumped just shy of $1 million on advertisements to help reelect Maloy.
This puts Maloy in seventh place nationally for races where AI-centric super PACs have spent money in the 2026 midterm elections, according to the Transformer AI tracker.
The group, Public First, was founded by Maloy's former boss in Washington, D.C., Chris Stewart, who has promoted a "reasonable" approach to AI regulation since leaving office.
In February, Anthropic — which is valued at just under $1 trillion — announced a $20 million donation to Public First to elect lawmakers who will balance AI with child safety and transparency.
The company has since found itself in the middle of a historic brawl with President Donald Trump.
On Friday, Anthropic suspended its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models after it received an export control directive from the government prohibiting foreign access for national security reasons.
Anthropic had previously called for increased federal oversight, warning that their new models would have the power to autonomously exploit weaknesses in government security systems.
Just two weeks earlier, the Trump administration finally released a tentative outline for how it would respond to AI threats by requesting a chance to vet new models 30 days before their planned release.
Now, with Congress stumbling to codify the national framework laid out by the Trump administration in March, AI companies are eager for legislative action instead of executive whim.
Maloy and Lyman on AI policy
On AI, Maloy praised the path taken by Utah to work with AI companies to free up innovation while regulating the impact on consumers to prevent AI harms to things like privacy and mental health.
Maloy said she had "worked hard" against proposals driven by Trump's former AI czar, Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, to prohibit states from implementing all but the most limited restrictions.
"The feds aren't as nimble as the states are," Maloy said. "I've worked to make sure that the states can keep regulating and experimenting and learning, but that we are not going to lose the AI race."
Maloy sees her role as stopping federal measures to hobble state interventions on AI so that "labs of democracy" like Utah can remain "in the driver's seat" when it comes to data and AI applications.
Lyman, who holds strong views on the importance of internet autonomy and deregulation of cryptocurrency, expressed far more skepticism about the prospect of government-guided AI.
He said it is a powerful resource that will do more than anything to bring transparency to government — but not if government intervention "destroys" the free market of AI with cumbersome rules.
According to Lyman, the idea that the U.S. will lose a global battle with China over AI innovation unless the government steps in is just a ploy to enable China-style mass surveillance in the U.S.
"The government is already inserting a narrative into the AI race," he said. "We're not losing the race to China on AI. What it feels like we're doing is that we're trying to catch up to China in surveillance."
Maloy and Lyman largely agreed on the issue of AI data centers, saying they are necessary but should be approved in a way that lets local input, not out-of-state business interests, lead the discussion.
Trust in government
On issues of spending, immigration and lands, the two opponents returned to the theme which has so far defined the 3rd District race: how to rebuild trust in the U.S. government.
The nation is "being governed by pirates," Lyman said, who are responsible for staggering national debt, immigration programs that replace American citizens and a tax system that picks favorites.
Over the course of three elections — for governor in 2024, for state GOP chair in 2025 and now for Congress — Lyman has rejected the legitimacy of Utah's electoral system and elected officials.
Framing himself as a force that would rebuild trust by bringing transparency to government, Lyman narrowly lost to Maloy among party delegates at the April Utah Republican nominating convention.
Meanwhile, Maloy has remained consistent in her message that Congress, despite its dysfunction, is on the right track toward responsible budgeting and safeguarding the next 250 years of America.
On Tuesday, Maloy poked fun at Lyman's allegation that the government is run by pirates, and promised she and her colleagues were hard at work on the issues that matter to conservative Utahns.
Maloy cited her roles on the House Appropriations Committee, Natural Resources Committee and as chair of the Western Caucus which have allowed her to secure $10 million for Great Salt Lake recovery.
As the race to represent the sprawling 3rd District reaches its final days, money stands out as a key factor.
Maloy has outraised Lyman 10 to 1 over the past two months, with $256,000 still left to spend compared to Lyman's $7,700. But a last-minute PAC is looking to boost Lyman's chances.
On Monday, the mysterious Keeping America Strong PAC dropped $300,000 on mail, radio and digital ads to oppose Maloy. The group claims to reveal "the truth" about Maloy's record.
Its website features a deepfake video of Maloy, produced entirely by AI.
