OpenAI's Political Nemesis Launches $30M AI Advocacy Nonprofit
Former NY Assemblymember Alex Bores aims to counter Silicon Valley's influence on AI policy.
1Political battle over AI regulation
Alex Bores, a former Palantir engineer turned New York Assemblymember, co-authored the RAISE Act - New York's frontier AI safety law. His congressional campaign saw over $40 million in outside spending, including $7.6 million against him from a super PAC funded by OpenAI's president. Despite support from Anthropic-backed groups, Bores lost the race but has now launched Who Decides, a $10 million nonprofit aiming to raise $30 million by 2028 to coordinate AI policy advocacy.
2Silicon Valley's unified opposition
The RAISE Act required a coalition of 55 diverse organizations to pass, while opposition came from a concentrated group of Silicon Valley players opposing all AI regulation. Bores notes this asymmetry: 'The opposition was always the same - a small subset of Silicon Valley that thinks there should be no regulation on AI whatsoever.' This dynamic motivated the creation of Who Decides to counterbalance tech industry influence in policy debates.
3Public opinion vs political reality
Multiple polls show strong bipartisan support for AI regulation, with 65-80% of Americans wanting more government oversight. However, Bores draws parallels to gun control, where overwhelming public support rarely translates to legislation due to lobbying. He observes the same pattern emerging in AI: diffuse public support faces concentrated industry opposition, particularly from Republican mega-donors like Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk.
4Industry's shifting stances
While OpenAI's Sam Altman initially called for regulation in 2023, he reversed his position by 2025, calling government approval 'disastrous.' In contrast, Anthropic's Dario Amodei maintained pro-regulation views even as Anthropic-linked funds entered political fights. Bores highlights this inconsistency, noting how industry figures' positions evolve while a consistent group of financiers works to block regulation regardless of public sentiment.
5The RAISE Act compromise
The final version of Bores' RAISE Act was significantly weakened, losing third-party audits and whistleblower protections due to industry pressure. Despite this, it remains one of the strongest state-level AI safety laws, though Bores expects Illinois and Massachusetts to soon surpass it. The act's journey illustrates how even popular regulation efforts face dilution from well-funded opposition.
6Federal preemption threat
Senator Ted Cruz's attempt to block state AI laws for 10 years was defeated 99-1, but he's now co-sponsoring a federal AI safety bill that could achieve similar preemption. Bores warns this 'federal packaging' could eliminate state-level progress while creating the appearance of action. The bill focuses on safety testing and incident reporting while potentially nullifying more stringent state regulations.
7Democratic coordination challenges
Bores identifies messaging fragmentation as a key Democratic weakness in tech policy debates. While advocates share goals, they often splinter into competing sub-issues. 'Democrats are very passionate about making a difference,' he notes, 'but that occasionally gets misdirected into turning into a circular firing squad.' Who Decides aims to establish unified priorities among existing advocacy groups.
8Strategic focus for 2028
Who Decides will target 11 battleground states through local organizations rather than trying to outspend tech-backed groups. The $30 million effort seeks to define the AI policy conversation before the 2028 election. Bores emphasizes creating 'a shared floor of an agenda' rather than imposing top-down solutions, reflecting lessons from the RAISE Act coalition-building experience.
Original article: Fortune — OpenAI's Political Nemesis Launches $30M AI Advocacy Nonprofit