Alex Bores, the New York assemblyman who put AI safety at the heart of his campaign, lost to Micah Lasher in a race to represent New York’s 12th district in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. With most of the votes counted, Lasher had 39% of the votes, with Bores at 35%.
With pro-AI-industry super PAC Leading the Future having spent more than $8m to defeat Bores — and pro-safety super PACs pouring well over twice as much into supporting him — the race will be seen by many as a win for the AI industry and a loss for AI safety interests.
The reality, however, is more complicated. The odds were always in Lasher’s favor, and some have argued that Leading the Future’s opposition only served to raise Bores’ profile.
Lasher also indicated he may not be a compliant alternative to Bores, disavowing the AI PACs in his victory speech: “I have some news for the two big AI companies who’ve taken such an unusual interest in who won this congressional seat: I won’t be taking my cues from either of you when it comes to protecting our kids, our jobs, our environment.”
Leading the Future’s public statement on the victory was subdued, too. Rather than taking a victory lap, PAC co-lead Josh Vlasto instead issued a generic statement outlining the PAC’s priorities. “Leading the Future is a cross-partisan, national organization dedicated to supporting a thoughtful and substantive dialogue and policy process around AI.”
