Dueling PACs take center stage in midterm elections over AI regulation

Jobs and Democracy PAC — the Democratic arm of a pro-AI regulation group — is launching a six-figure ad buy supporting Alex Bores, a New York assemblyman and driving force behind the state’s new AI law. The measure, named the RAISE Act, requires large AI developers to publish safety protocols and report serious misuse of their technology.

Bores is facing a crowded field in the Democratic primary for New York’s 12th congressional district. Because of the makeup of the district, the winner of the Democratic primary is likely to win the general election.

Bores was the target of another ad campaign launched last November from another AI PAC, Leading the Future, which is backed by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, AI search-engine company Perplexity, SV Angel founder Ron Conway and numerous others.

Jobs and Democracy is one piece of a larger, bipartisan effort from former lawmakers Brad Carson and Chris Stewart to boost candidates who will back increased AI regulation. The group, Public First Action, recently got a $20 million donation from Anthropic, which has broken from other AI giants in pushing for more regulation.

Earlier this month, Public First Action launched a six-figure ad touting Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)’s record on AI legislation. Blackburn is running for governor of Tennessee. The group’s Republican arm — Defending our Values PAC — made a six-figure buy supporting Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in his re-election. Ricketts introduced legislation for stronger restrictions on exporting advanced U.S. semiconductors to adversarial countries.

The midterm elections are only the latest space where OpenAI and Anthropic are butting heads. The two companies took swipes at each other in Super Bowl ads and investment in data centers.

Much of the congressional debate around AI regulation has focused on whether to temporarily ban states from implementing certain AI laws to avoid a patchwork of regulation. Proponents of the ban say it would slow AI development down. However, the proposed ban lacked needed support on both sides of the aisle.

Trump signed an executive order in December to penalize states with certain AI regulations.