A $100 Million AI Super PAC Targeted New York Democrat Alex Bores. He Thinks It Backfired
It turns out that when an AI-friendly super PAC with $100 million in support from Silicon Valley bigwigs identifies you as its first target, it ends up generating a lot of attention.
“I want to thank [the PAC] for their partnership in raising the issue of how we regulate an incredibly powerful technology so that the future is one that benefits us all,” New York Assembly member and Democratic congressional candidate Alex Bores said in an interview with WIRED. “I couldn’t imagine a better partner this week.”
Earlier this year, Bores and New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes co-authored the RAISE Act, a bill that would allow the New York attorney general to impose civil penalties of up to $30 million against AI developers like OpenAI and Google if they fail to publish security reports on their technology.
The RAISE Act was passed by the New York Legislature in June and is expected to be signed or vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul before the end of the year. It’s one of a handful of AI safety bills across the country that attempt to regulate AI developers, even as the Trump administration prepares an executive order aimed at thwarting state-level AI laws.
It was this effort that put Bores squarely in Leading the Future’s crosshairs. In addition to backing from venture capital powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz, the recently formed PAC is also funded by OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
Andreessen Horowitz declined WIRED’s request for comment. Brockman and Lonsdale did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Leading the Future plans to spend millions of dollars to defeat Bores’ congressional bid. “Assemblyman Bores has advanced exactly the type of ideologically and politically motivated legislation that would limit not only New York’s, but the entire country’s, ability to lead AI employment and innovation,” PAC leaders Zac Moffatt and Josh Vlasto said in a statement to WIRED. They added that the PAC “will aggressively oppose policymakers and candidates in states across the country” who endanger Americans’ “ability to benefit from AI.” But they declined to share their next goals.
Bores believes that the AI industry is threatened by its technical skills. The New York lawmaker holds a master’s degree in computer science from Georgia Tech. He also worked as an engineer at Palantir for four years before resigning in 2019 due to the company’s renewed contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“What scares Trump’s megadonors the most is that I actually understand AI,” he says.
