AI tried to bury this politician — now people have actually heard of him
OpenAI- and Anthropic-backed money tried to attack Alex Bores, but the spending appears to have boosted his profile instead.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Anthropic and OpenAI are spending heavily in a New York Democratic primary fight over AI regulation, targeting state assemblyman Alex Bores. The Verge argues the ad blitz may have helped make him the best-known candidate in the race.
Two big AI companies are spending a lot of money in a local election because they care about the rules for AI. They are trying to stop one candidate, Alex Bores, who has worked on AI laws.
But the plan seems to have backfired. Like trying to hide a toy and accidentally putting a spotlight on it, their attacks made more people notice him.
That matters because it shows companies can try to shape politics, not just products. It also shows loud attacks can sometimes help the person they are aimed at.
Analysis
The proxy fight
The Verge says Anthropic and OpenAI are in the middle of a political fight over who gets to shape AI regulation, and that fight is now flowing through New York’s 12th congressional district primary. The target is Alex Bores, a New York state assemblyman who wrote one of the first AI regulatory bills in the country.
Why Bores became more visible
According to the article, a super PAC backed by OpenAI, Palantir, and a16z executives has spent millions attacking Bores since late 2025. The goal was to stop him from winning the seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Nadler. Instead, the attacks seem to have raised his profile. The Verge notes that Bores only placed his first New York ad buy on May 11, months after entering the race, while his opponents and outside groups had already been spending heavily.
The political effect
The article frames this as a classic Streisand effect: the more the AI companies spent against Bores, the more voters learned his name. A recent Emerson College poll put him close behind Micah Lasher, and the campaign says the outside spending helped make AI regulation a visible issue in the district. The piece also quotes critics and allies who treat the race as a test of whether deep-pocketed tech money can still overwhelm a local campaign in one of the country’s most expensive media markets.
Bigger picture
The story is not really about one House primary. It is about AI firms behaving like major political actors, using super PACs and attack ads to shape the rules that will govern their industry. The twist is that the target may be winning the attention war even while his opponents spend millions trying to bury him.
Key points
- Anthropic and OpenAI-aligned money are spending heavily in a New York congressional primary tied to AI regulation.
- The target, Alex Bores, wrote an early AI regulatory bill and is now seen as a leading candidate.
- The article argues the attack ads may have boosted Bores by making him much more visible to voters.
- Bores says his campaign only began buying ads in New York on May 11, far later than the outside groups.
- The race is presented as a test of how far tech-backed political spending can go in a very expensive media market.
