Silicon Valley Titans Wage War on NY Congressional Hopeful Over AI Regulation Stance

Key Takeaways

• Alex Bores, a New York assembly member and congressional candidate, is the target of a $10 million+ campaign funded by Silicon Valley leaders.
• The super PAC 'Leading the Future,' backed by figures like Joe Lonsdale (Palantir) and Greg Brockman (OpenAI), aims to defeat candidates supporting AI regulation.
• Bores sponsored the RAISE Act, a New York law requiring AI companies with over $500 million in revenue to have publicly available safety plans.
• Tech giants, including Meta, are pouring millions into state-level races to elect candidates aligned with their AI and tech interests.
• Bores argues this represents an attempt to intimidate elected officials and stifle dissent regarding AI development and deployment.

The race for New York's 12th congressional district has become a high-stakes battleground in the escalating war over artificial intelligence regulation. Assembly member Alex Bores, a Democrat with a computer science background, is facing a barrage of attack ads funded by 'Leading the Future,' a super PAC bankrolled by some of Silicon Valley's most influential figures.

At the heart of the conflict is Bores' advocacy for greater transparency and accountability in the AI industry. He sponsored the RAISE Act in New York, a law compelling large AI labs to disclose safety plans and report catastrophic incidents. This relatively modest measure has apparently triggered a disproportionate response from tech leaders who seem to view any state-level regulation as a threat to innovation.

Leading the Future, supported by the likes of Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has pledged to spend at least $10 million to defeat Bores. Their stated goal is to support candidates who favor minimal AI regulation, preferably at the federal level, where they believe they can exert greater influence. Bores views this as an attempt to silence dissenting voices and maintain unfettered control over AI's development and deployment.

The financial firepower being deployed against Bores highlights the immense stakes involved in the AI regulation debate. Meta, for instance, has invested $65 million in super PACs targeting state-level elections, further illustrating the industry's determination to shape the political landscape to its advantage. Bores contends that this level of spending far exceeds the norm and represents an attempt to intimidate elected officials.

While Bores faces a formidable financial disadvantage, he has garnered support from Public First Action, an Anthropic-backed PAC that advocates for AI transparency, safety, and public oversight. He argues that his tech background and understanding of AI make him a unique threat to those seeking unchecked control over the technology. He believes the majority of Americans recognize AI's potential but are concerned about its rapid pace of development and the need for responsible governance.

Bores has proposed a national AI governance blueprint with numerous policy recommendations and has introduced legislation demanding disclosure of training data and metadata standards for synthetic content. He believes that anyone serious about federal AI regulation should be backing his campaign.

Why it matters

This race serves as a critical test case for the future of AI regulation in the United States. The outcome will signal whether Silicon Valley's financial might can effectively silence voices advocating for responsible AI development and deployment, or whether public interest concerns can prevail against the industry's powerful lobbying efforts. The battle over AI governance is only just beginning, and this election could set a precedent for future conflicts between tech giants and elected officials seeking to protect the public good.