AI Regulation Battle Spills Over: OpenAI vs. Anthropic Camps Intensify, Evolving into a Multi-Million Dollar Election War

Odaily Planet Daily News A political battle over New York State Assemblyman Alex Bores's campaign for a congressional seat has escalated into a direct confrontation between two major AI industry camps. Through their respective political action committees, OpenAI and Anthropic have poured millions to tens of millions of dollars into supporting different candidates.

The New York State "RAISE Act" previously advanced by Alex Bores is considered one of the strictest attempts at AI safety regulation in the U.S., requiring AI companies to report potential "catastrophic risks," and has become the core of the current controversy.

The group "Leading the Future," backed by OpenAI-related investors and Silicon Valley capital, has spent over $7.6 million in advertising funds in an attempt to prevent Alex Bores from being elected, while Anthropic's related political network and its investors have poured over $10 million to support his campaign.

This incident has elevated the AI regulatory issue from a policy discussion to a flashpoint in real-world political confrontation, with the core divide centering on "whether AI should be self-regulated by companies or strictly governed by the government." Meanwhile, both the supporting and opposing camps accuse each other of representing corporate interests rather than public regulatory demands, turning the election in this district into a "proxy war" between two governance paths for the AI industry. Analysts point out that this event marks the extension of AI industry competition from the technology and product level to the political and regulatory structure level, becoming a key case study of the intersection of technology and policy. (Fortune)