The $27 Million AI Proxy War Over Alex Bores Ends in a Draw
New York Assemblyman Alex Bores, whose primary campaign drew $27.4 million from AI industry-backed super PACs, lost the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District, securing 35% against Micah Lasher's 39.1%.
The expensive, $27 million political proxy war between Anthropic and OpenAI came to a draw last night when Alex Bores, a New York state Assemblyman, narrowly lost the Democratic primary to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District. Bores, a former tech employee, had coauthored the RAISE Act, which imposed safety regulations on frontier AI companies. The legislation drew the ire of Leading the Future, a $100 million super PAC partially funded by OpenAI, Palantir, and Andreessen Horowitz executives. In response, Anthropic-connected super PACs poured millions into defending Bores.
According to FEC filings, AI companies spent $27.41 million warring over Bores’s candidacy. Pro-Bores super PACs spent $19.26 million, while Leading the Future spent $8.15 million. However, local Manhattan politics remained decisive. Bores lost to Assemblyman Micah Lasher, supported by former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s super PAC and viewed as the protégé of retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler. Bores outperformed two other high-profile contenders: Jack Schlossberg (10.8%) and George Conway (5th place, 7.1%).
In a statement, Bores noted his campaign showed people are ready to push back against AI oligarchs. The general election for NY-12 is likely to remain Democratic, but nationwide, AI industry super PACs have already spent $50.1 million across 19 states.
