AI groups spend $16M in Manhattan House race focused on Alex Bores

In short: AI-related political groups have spent about $16 million in a Manhattan congressional race, with one side trying to defeat Alex Bores and another backing him because of his stance on AI regulation.

What's going on

New York’s 12th Congressional District, which includes parts of Manhattan, has become a major focus for political spending tied to the AI industry. Reporting shows about $16 million has already been spent in the contest, and that number could still grow.

At the center is Democratic candidate Alex Bores, who is running to replace longtime Representative Jerrold Nadler. Some AI-industry-aligned groups are targeting Bores because he supports stronger rules for AI, meaning government limits on how AI systems can be built and used.

One group in the anti-Bores effort is a super PAC called Leading the Future. A super PAC is a political group that can raise and spend large sums to influence elections, but it cannot coordinate directly with a candidate’s campaign (like a separate megaphone for political ads). Leading the Future is backed by people connected to Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman.

On the other side, a PAC called Public First is supporting Bores. Donations to this pro-regulation effort have come from people at Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind, plus AI safety groups. Politico reported direct donations to Bores of $168,500 from Anthropic employees, $57,000 from OpenAI employees, and $58,000 from Google and DeepMind employees.

What to watch

This is not simply OpenAI versus Anthropic. It is more like an internal fight across the AI world over how much the government should step in. Watch whether spending rises as the election gets closer, and whether other races become similar proxy battles over AI rules.

Source: NYTimes