Techies from both sides of the AI safety debate are pouring a fortune into next month’s midterms, with at least $48 million reportedly going to pols poised to crack down on the burgeoning tech.
Tech-worker-backed AI safety group Guardrails Alliance, which has raised $11.7 million, is among the groups funneling cash to candidates in favor of regulations, Axios reported Wednesday.
OpenAI’s Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe – who has said he’s interested in “mitigating catastrophic risks” – has given about $400,000 to political action group Dream NYC. It previously funneled some $2.5 million to New York State Assemblyman Alex Bores, a prominent AI safety supporter, for his failed campaign, according to AI site Transformer.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, one of the most prominent techies voicing alarm over AI, has committed $1 million to safety-focused political group Public First. It backs candidates who want to slow down or regulate AI development.
AI safety doomers have donated at least $41,000 to Democrat Peggy Flanagan – a Sen. Bernie Sanders-backed Senate candidate in Minnesota who has called AI an “existential threat” to humanity, as The Post previously reported.
Meanwhile, anti-regulation, pro-innovation groups have pumped massive sums to their campaigns of choice.
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman have plowed $25 million and $12.5 million, respectively, into super PAC Leading the Future. It has used its war chest of $149 million to support candidates like moderate pro-business Democrat Melissa Bean in her Illinois congressional district, according to Transformer.
The donations come amid a fierce debate over AI safety – with top companies including Anthropic and OpenAI advocating for development slowdowns even as they race to advance their own technology.
Meanwhile, warnings that AI could harm humanity — and opposition to the massive data centers powering the tech — have only grown louder on both sides of the aisle.
Pro-AI safety donors include Aryan Bhatt, who works at Redwood Research, a Berkeley, Calif.-based group with cozy ties to AI giant Anthropic. The research firm co-authored a bombshell report last month detailing how a swarm of rogue OpenAI agents hacked rival firm Hugging Face, according to campaign finance reports.
Bhatt has donated to congressional candidates including House Republican Bill Huizenga, who has advocated for strict AI guardrails focused on national security, according to OpenSecrets.
Pro-regulation Public First Action has distributed funds to other PACs supporting a range of candidates. Contributions include $1.6 million to North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Dem, and nearly $1.5 million to Texas congressional candidate Carlos De La Cruz, a Republican, according to Transformer.
Anthropic says it has donated some $40 million to Public First Action this year.
Guardrails Alliance has shoveled money to opponents of candidates pushing tech growth – including $412,500 againt Republican Aaron Flint in a House race in Montana, according to OpenSecrets.
Overall, pro-safety donors told Axios they aren’t motivated by party affiliation so much as wanting to competing with tech giants pouring millions into electing pro-innovation candidates.
Leading the Future told Axios is wants to cultivate a broad coalition because tighter AI regulation will need 60 votes to pass in the Senate.
The polarizing topic has led some donors to pull back – Brockman reportedly nixed a planned second $25 million donation from tech bigwig-backed super PAC Leading the Future after internal revolt at OpenAI.
The Post has sought comment from Bhatt and Uribe.
