Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat helping to write his party's artificial intelligence agenda, has disclosed new purchases of AI-linked stocks. The New Jersey representative made an Oct. 12 purchase of between $1,001 and $15,000 of Benchmark Electronics stock, according to a filing released this week. A jointly owned Morgan Stanley account also bought up to $15,000 worth of Applied Materials shares on Oct. 26, following three earlier purchases of Advanced Micro Devices.
Gottheimer sits on the House Financial Services subcommittee overseeing AI in finance and co-chairs a commission developing Democrats' broader AI agenda. The trades occur as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress in January, which would grant them new power to regulate and investigate the AI industry. While there is no evidence of wrongdoing, the investments have drawn attention due to Gottheimer's longstanding support for restricting congressional stock trading. In July, he was among 13 Democrats who voted for the Stop Insider Trading Act, a bill that would prohibit lawmakers and their families from purchasing most individual stocks.
Spokesman Haraden Bottomley said the congressman turned over control of his investments to a third party with "full investment discretion" before taking office in 2017. Bottomley added, "Gottheimer is also awaiting approval from Congress of a blind trust. In the meantime, he has taken the extra step of setting up an independent trust."
The disclosed trades, which totaled between $5,005 and $75,000, represent a small portion of Gottheimer's household assets, which range from $15.1 million to $59 million. His household reports assets jointly with his wife, Marla Tusk, and has reported more than 1,100 securities transactions over three years.
Applied Materials supplies semiconductor manufacturing equipment and was Benchmark's largest disclosed customer in 2025, accounting for 14% of revenue. Benchmark's Oct. 28 earnings report stated the company generated 30% of its third-quarter revenue from semiconductor equipment and 16% from advanced computing and communications. The purchases were made shortly before a selloff in AI stocks that saw the Nasdaq Composite Index plunge 5.5% on Thursday.
