Why corporate AI super PACs spent $27 million on a local election

Tonight's closely watched NY-12 House primary is poised to serve as a critical barometer for the influence of corporate technology funding in political campaigns.

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We are providing this update a day ahead of schedule to offer a comprehensive overview of the New York 12th Congressional District primary, with polls set to close this evening. This particular race warrants close attention, especially for those interested in artificial intelligence, given the tech industry's unprecedented expenditure of $27.83 million to sway its outcome.

This weekly newsletter aims to dissect the complex interplay between the Big Tech sector and the White House.

Weeks prior, Jack Schlossberg, the millennial heir of the Kennedy family and a candidate for the open NY-12 House seat in Manhattan, made a striking allegation on X: that he was the target of astroturfing—a deceptive practice involving bots and fake accounts—orchestrated on behalf of his competitor, progressive New York state assemblyman Alex Bores. A subsequent Politico New York investigation corroborated these claims, revealing an extensive network of coordinated digital messaging. The report identified at least eight new accounts across TikTok and Instagram actively disseminating pro-Bores content. Politico gathered substantial evidence indicating these accounts were linked to You Can Push Back, a super PAC founded by Ripple cofounder and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen. This PAC's stated objective is to support Bores and mitigate OpenAI’s potential political leverage in Congress. (You Can Push Back refrained from commenting to Politico regarding these findings.)

Remarkably, during its investigation, Politico also found itself inquiring with two additional pro-Bores PACs about their involvement in the digital campaign. Both organizations, it turns out, are affiliated with Anthropic: Dream NYC, which received a significant initial donation from an individual Anthropic employee, and the Jobs and Democracy super PAC, which is directly financed by Public First Action, a nonprofit advocacy group that itself secured a $20 million donation from Anthropic. The inherent irony, as Bores and his campaign have consistently underscored, is that AI safety was never intended to be the central theme of his platform. Instead, these competing super PACs have inadvertently—or deliberately—thrust this issue into the spotlight. Given the context of this high-profile Manhattan race, one might ponder: does any form of corporate influence in an election, even when aligned with perceived "good actors" in the AI space, ultimately become a political disadvantage?

As previously reported, Bores, notable for co-sponsoring the nation's inaugural successful AI safety legislation, has unexpectedly become the focal point of a significant conflict between the safety-oriented AI firm Anthropic and a coalition of other AI companies. In essence, Leading the Future, a formidable $100 million super PAC dedicated to endorsing AI-advancing candidates in congressional midterm elections, initiated an anti-Bores advertising campaign last year. This move prompted a counter-response from two Anthropic-affiliated, safety-focused AI super PACs, alongside the super PAC linked to Chris Larsen, all of whom launched advertisements in support of Bores. Cumulatively, these pro-Bores PACs, backed by substantial tech magnate funding, have disbursed an estimated $19.4 million, according to Transformer. This figure not only surpasses the total expenditure of the Bores campaign throughout its entire duration but also exceeds the amount Leading the Future's PAC, Think Big, specifically allocated to oppose him ($8.15 million).

Legally, the Bores campaign is prohibited from coordinating messaging with any of the super PACs endorsing him, a directive the campaign has diligently adhered to, particularly in avoiding discussions about the Anthropic-aligned PACs vying for influence around him. However, a fourth super PAC has now entered the fray, expressly to highlight these corporate battles: The Guardrails Alliance. This newly formed grassroots organization, primarily comprising unions and technology workers not associated with immense wealth, committed last week to spending $250,000 on pro-Bores advertising before the election. Cofounder Shaunna Thomas stated in an interview with The New York Times that the Guardrails Alliance was established specifically to serve as a counterbalance to the clashing billionaires. She articulated, “This is not about matching [Leading the Future] dollar for dollar, fighting them with money or another set of billionaires.” Thomas emphasized, “What this vehicle is meant to do is be a political home for people who are concerned about the way the anti-regulation A.I. tech sector is trying to manipulate elections.”

The extent to which tech sector influence will ultimately define this race remains uncertain, largely due to a lack of recent public polling data—specifically, polls not reliant on prediction market analysis—since May 21st. At that time, Emerson College's findings indicated Bores was in a tight contest with his primary rival, fellow state Assemblyman Micah Lasher. Numerous other variables are also at play, including Lasher’s deep ties to the New York City political establishment, the support he receives from Michael Bloomberg’s super PAC, Schlossberg’s prominent connections within the Kennedy family network, and an extensive roster of other external PACs investing in New York elections. Notably, one common narrative absent from this particular race is Mayor Zohran Mamdani's decision not to endorse any candidate in NY-12, rendering this primary less about securing a progressive mandate for Mamdani and more singularly focused on the individual candidates.

While the tech billionaires seemingly perceive this race as a test of which super PAC can outmaneuver the others—a perspective underscored by the emergence of a fourth super PAC explicitly formed to challenge them—the constituents of NY-12 likely harbor broader concerns. A recent informal survey by The New Yorker within the district revealed that Manhattan residents are equally preoccupied with issues such as affordability, the conflict in Israel, efforts to counter Donald Trump, and the overall direction of the Democratic Party. (Given Manhattan's strong Democratic lean in general elections, the primary winner is effectively the de facto victor in November.) Currently, voters face a choice among not three, but four candidates, including George Conway, a prominent former Republican and "Never Trump" political figure. Should Bores ultimately lose, his stance on AI may not be the sole determinant. Conversely, a victory for Bores could signal that a strong position on AI safety offers midterm candidates a distinct advantage over their rivals. As the astute New York Democratic strategist Liz Smith remarked in a recent piece: “I’m gonna be honest with you, [Bores] wasn’t exactly a well-known quantity prior to becoming a target of these AI companies.”

I will be traveling to Minneapolis this Wednesday for the annual Asian American Journalists Association conference. I have a specific request for any Minneapolis residents who are currently following the ongoing debate surrounding the downtown data center: please reach out to me via email at [email protected].

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