Who’s really running AI? Inside the billion-dollar battle over regulation with Alex Bores

The battle over who controls AI's future is escalating beyond Silicon Valley boardrooms, with New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores at the center of a $125 million lobbying storm. Bores, a candidate for U.S. Congress, sponsored New York's pioneering RAISE Act, which is being touted as a potential blueprint for national AI regulation. His efforts have made him a primary target for a well-funded Silicon Valley group opposing stringent rules, even as Anthropic makes a significant $20 million bet supporting the pro-regulation side. This political clash unfolds against a backdrop of the Pentagon negotiating control over military AI applications with companies like Anthropic and local communities nationwide blocking data center construction, highlighting the tangible, ground-level impacts of the AI boom.

The RAISE Act represents a critical attempt to establish guardrails before widespread damage occurs, aiming to avoid the largely reactive regulation that characterized social media. Bores' office is already preparing the next wave of legislation, including bills mandating training data disclosure, establishing content provenance standards, and proposing a comprehensive 43-point national AI framework. This regulatory push signifies a pivotal moment where AI governance could follow the more structured paths of finance and biotech rather than the laissez-faire approach of the past tech era. The outcome of this billion-dollar lobbying battle, featuring dueling super PACs, will set a precedent for whether AI development is guided by proactive safety measures or continues its current rapid, minimally constrained trajectory.