{"id":1623,"date":"2026-06-17T17:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1623"},"modified":"2026-06-17T17:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:45:14","slug":"openais-backers-spent-7-6-million-to-destroy-a-state-legislator-anthropic-spent-10-million-to-rescue-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1623","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI\u2019s backers spent $7.6 million to destroy a state legislator. Anthropic spent $10 million to rescue him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Angered by Bores\u2019 legislation regulating\u00a0artificial intelligence, a political group underwritten by investors in OpenAI spent more than $7 million on ads designed to crush the former computer engineer, who\u2019s running in\u00a0the ultracompetitive June 23 Democratic primary\u00a0for a Manhattan-based U.S. House district. That group, Leading the Future, counts titans of Silicon Valley, major venture capitalists and alumni of President Donald Trump\u2019s Republican administration among its donors.<\/p>\n

Read more The Knicks have won 3 NBA titles, but their first parade was held up for 55 years by a budget crisis and a rejected $372 expense report<\/a><\/p>\n

Bores complained about the spending, warning that it would deter other state lawmakers and members of Congress from\u00a0trying to rein in the fast-growing industry. He swiftly became a nationally recognized cautionary tale of an underdog politician battling against an overwhelming tide of tech money.<\/p>\n

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But then another wing of Silicon Valley rode to Bores\u2019 rescue. Political groups partly funded by Anthropic, the maker of the chatbot Claude, have spent more than $10 million boosting Bores\u2019 campaign. Crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, an Anthropic investor, has pledged another $3.5 million.<\/p>\n

Bores\u2019 race is now a proxy battle for two competing visions of how government should treat the technology industry and artificial intelligence. Adding to the tension is Bores\u2019 past working for Palantir, which he quit during Trump\u2019s first term over what he said were concerns about the tech company\u2019s work on immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lines are being drawn, and this primary is very much an expression of that,\u201d said Morten Bay, a research fellow at the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California. \u201cThe core divide is regulation \u2014 whether you\u2019re for or against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech industry is at odds over regulation<\/h4>\n

The schism mirrors a similar one running through Silicon Valley. Some tech titans, like Elon Musk, have embraced Trump and his movement, as well as the idea of limiting or eliminating most government regulations. But a large chunk of the industry remains traditionally Democratic, in favor of some government safeguards.<\/p>\n

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Leading the Future \u2014 funded by major Trump donors like OpenAI President Greg Brockman, venture capitalist Marc Andreesen and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale \u2014 has spent $7.6 million through a subsidiary against Bores.<\/p>\n

The political action committee, formed last year as the artificial intelligence industry\u2019s main political muscle, says that it supports AI regulation but that Congress should take the lead. The group contends that Bores is the only candidate who is bought and paid for.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs we have said from day one, Anthropic, its investors and the dark-money groups it funds would spend millions to send Alex Bores to Congress, and that is exactly what has happened,\u201d said Josh Vlasto, a co-lead of Leading the Future.<\/p>\n

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Bores points to his own record crafting AI safety legislation for how he\u2019d tackle the issue at the federal level. The regulation he spearheaded, known as the RAISE Act, is considered among the most sweeping attempts by a state to control the new technology. It requires major AI companies to file reports about safeguards against \u201ccatastrophic\u201d risks that could injure more than 50 people, like the previously only-in-science-fiction scenario of AI melting down nuclear power plants or engineering new viruses.<\/p>\n

Read more The G7 has some special lunchtime guests this year: Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis and Dario Amodei<\/a><\/p>\n

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Leading the Future opposed Bores\u2019 original proposal but acceded to a modified version that was signed into law. But the PAC has made clear it hasn\u2019t forgiven Bores and describes his views as extreme.<\/p>\n

Bores pushed strict rules in New York<\/h4>\n

The RAISE Act is the sort of regulation that would be nullified by\u00a0Trump\u2019s proposed AI framework, which would bar states from\u00a0enacting their own AI rules\u00a0so Congress could create a national standard. However, there\u2019s been little movement in Washington to do that, which has left the industry essentially unregulated at the federal level.<\/p>\n

Leading the Future\u2019s refrain that Bores is a tool of OpenAI\u2019s business competitor has been taken up by Bores\u2019 many rivals in the race to succeed\u00a0retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler. His 12th Congressional District stretches across upper and midtown Manhattan and is one of the wealthiest and most Democratic districts in the country. At recent debates, Bores\u2019 opponents have claimed he\u2019s simply a pawn in a corporate battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re in the middle of a civil war between OpenAI and Anthropic. It has nothing to do with standing up to Trump\u2019s mega donors,\u201d said Jack Schlossberg,\u00a0the Kennedy family heir\u00a0and social media personality also running for the seat.<\/p>\n

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Bores and his allies contend his opponents are simply trying to confuse voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis race started with AI megadonors pledging $10 million to stop me because they were afraid after I passed the strongest AI safety law in the country,\u201d Bores said in a statement. \u201cSince then, everyone who supports AI regulation and safety \u2014 from teachers to tech workers, from AI safety advocates to progressive activists \u2014 has united to take the other side. This isn\u2019t one company versus another, this is one ideology versus another: regulate the powerful and protect people, or don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some tech groups are backing Bores<\/h4>\n

Brad Carson, a former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma, runs the political action committee Public First, which has spent more than $6 million to back Bores through a subsidiary. The committee was created explicitly to counter Leading the Future and was an outgrowth of a nonprofit Carson helped fund to push for AI regulation.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Carson bristled at the suggestion that the enterprise was simply an Anthropic tool and said it had raised $30 million from nongovernmental organizations before Anthropic made a $20 million contribution. \u201cIt\u2019s not like two billionaires fighting it out,\u201d Carson said. \u201cIt\u2019s two philosophical movements fighting it out. All of them have wealthy supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chris Larsen, a cryptocurrency billionaire who\u2019s pledged about $3.5 million on Bores\u2019 behalf, said in a statement that his decision to get involved \u201cresulted directly from OpenAI\u2019s threats to make examples of candidates who seek common-sense regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bay, the research fellow, noted that the district is an odd one for the more Trump-friendly groups to invest in because it\u2019s so liberal. Indeed, Bores\u2019 main rival for the nomination, Assemblyman Micah Lasher, supported Bores\u2019 RAISE Act. Carson said his group wants Bores to win but is comfortable with Lasher.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive: Universal beat Disney as Hollywood\u2019s maker of the most expensive movie of all time<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s very good on AI issues too,\u201d Carson said. \u201cWe win either way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex Bores passed New York’s toughest AI safety law \u2014\u00a0he’s also a millionaire former Palantir employee. The proxy war is happening in Manhattan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections"],"yoast_head":"\nOpenAI\u2019s backers spent $7.6 million to destroy a state legislator. 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