Silicon Valley Is Spending Millions to Stop One of Its Own

A political action committee (PAC) funded by Silicon Valley's elite is pouring millions into a campaign to defeat a congressional candidate with a tech background but a pro-regulation stance. The PAC, called Leading the Future, is bankrolled by OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Their target is Alex Bores, a 35-year-old Democratic New York Assembly member and former Palantir data engineer running for Congress. Bores co-sponsored New York's RAISE Act, a 2025 law requiring major AI firms to implement and publish safety protocols for their models.

The PAC has launched an aggressive campaign against Bores, labeling his regulatory approach as "ideological and politically motivated legislation" that would hinder U.S. leadership in AI. This clash highlights a deepening rift within the tech industry between its traditional libertarian ethos and a new wave of technologists who believe in proactive government oversight. In an interview, Bores explained his Palantir work involved building data "ontologies"—structured systems to track objects like loans—to help the Department of Justice investigate banks after the 2008 financial crisis. This experience informs his view that powerful technology requires robust guardrails, putting him directly at odds with his former industry's biggest financiers.