OpenAI and Anthropic: Alex Bores Takes Center Stage

Context of the Political Battle

As the Democratic primaries for New York's 12th congressional district approach their conclusion in June, two giants of artificial intelligence, Anthropic and OpenAI, have already spent millions in a fierce struggle. The stakes? The future regulation of AI and the consequences for those who would attempt to regulate it. At the heart of this battle is Alex Bores, a little-known former member of the New York State Assembly, who has become a symbol of AI safety regulation.

Super PAC Spending

Since the end of 2025, Leading the Future, a super PAC funded by OpenAI, Palantir, and leaders from a16z, has spent millions against Alex Bores, who drafted one of the first AI regulation bills in the country. The PAC hoped to end his candidacy for the seat left vacant by long-time Democrat Jerry Nadler. Instead, Bores is now leading the eight-candidate race to become the "face of Manhattan," as recently described by New York Magazine.

An Unexpected Campaign

Surprisingly, he has achieved all this without running a massive advertising campaign. In fact, Bores' campaign told The Verge that it made its very first advertising purchase in New York on May 11, nearly seven months after entering the race and just a few weeks before the polls close on June 23. In contrast, Leading the Future, whose supporters include Joe Lonsdale, Marc Andreessen, and Greg Brockman from OpenAI, has been airing attack ads against Bores since December 2025, spending an estimated total of $2.4 million according to recent reports.

The Power of Super PACs

Under different circumstances, a super PAC backed by corporations and billionaires, allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts for a candidate or initiative, could annihilate an opponent with its spending. The group behind Leading the Future had already succeeded in doing so during the 2024 elections, ousting Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Katie Porter (D-CA) via Fairshake, a super PAC from the crypto industry. And it would certainly have had the advantage in Manhattan: by December, Think Big PAC, affiliated with Leading the Future, had spent $120,000 to air a single anti-Bores ad on television and digital platforms.

Bores' Rising Visibility

When Bores entered the race in October, the former Palantir employee turned politician faced several other candidates with greater recognition and significant financial backing. Micah Lasher, another member of the New York State Assembly, enjoys support from Nadler's political machine, as well as from Mike Bloomberg's super PAC. Jack Schlossberg, the influencer and grandson of John F. Kennedy, is backed by the nostalgic national Democratic establishment of Camelot. George Conway, a critic of Donald Trump and ex-husband of Trump's former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, has captured the Never Trumpers' audience.

An Effective Communication Strategy

Rather than stifling Bores' candidacy, the AI companies have only increased his visibility. A new poll released last week by Emerson College shows him tied with Lasher, trailing by just two points, and Bores has consistently pulled ahead of his rivals in recent polls. In a way, the ads from Leading the Future have become an in-kind donation to Bores' campaign, serving as a multi-million dollar free advertising campaign that has done the hard work of raising voter awareness about Bores.

Media Fallout

Voters who were previously unaware of Bores received mail and ads portraying him as anti-AI and pro-regulation, highlighting his role in drafting the RAISE Act, a New York state law that imposes restrictions on the release of advanced AI models, signed in December. The ads became an unintended amplifier: the more Leading the Future attacked Bores, the more media coverage increased, and the more voters became aware that a super PAC backed by tech billionaires was trying to influence an election in Manhattan, specifically targeting a candidate who wants to regulate AI.

A Strategic Irony

It also didn't hurt that the ads from the AI companies were easy for Bores to mock. One of their early ads criticized Bores for having worked at Palantir at a time when the controversial company had contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, suggesting that Bores was hypocritical for now saying he wanted to abolish ICE. Bores filed a cease-and-desist against Leading the Future for defamation, claiming he left Palantir because he opposed its relationship with ICE.

Unprecedented Media Attention

This occurred even before an intervention from Anthropic brought the race to national attention. In February, the Jobs and Democracy PAC, affiliated with the pro-regulation super PAC Public First Action, announced it would support Bores. Media outlets like The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Politico began covering the fight surrounding Bores as part of the long-standing rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic, the latter positioning itself as the more responsible of the advanced AI labs — and which had just donated $20 million to Public First Action, in direct opposition to Leading the Future and its ties to OpenAI.

Conclusion

This type of media exposure is unprecedented in House races. "You would kill for earned media, you would kill for paid media," said Smith. "So the fact that he’s getting all this paid media, when he was a virtual unknown outside of very insider political circles before — it’s a gift."