AI companies are spending millions to thwart this former tech exec’s congressional bid

A coalition of major AI companies and investors is pouring millions into a political action committee to defeat a congressional candidate with a tech background who supports AI regulation. The super PAC, Leading the Future, has raised $125 million and is targeting New York Assembly member Alex Bores, who sponsored New York's RAISE Act. This law requires large AI labs with over $500M in revenue to publish safety plans and report catastrophic incidents. The PAC's backers include Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Andreessen Horowitz, and Perplexity AI, highlighting a concerted industry push against state-level AI governance.

Bores, a former Palantir engineer who quit over the company's ICE work, is one of the few Democratic candidates with a computer science degree. He frames the $10M campaign against him as retaliation for his effective advocacy, arguing the industry fears knowledgeable regulators. The conflict underscores a broader strategy where tech firms, including Meta with its $65M in PAC funding, are investing heavily to elect AI-friendly candidates and challenge state laws like the RAISE Act. This marks a significant escalation in the political battle over AI oversight, pitting Silicon Valley's preference for federal (and potentially lighter) regulation against state-led transparency efforts.