The $27 million AI proxy war over Alex Bores ends in a draw

围绕 Alex Bores 的 2700 万美元 AI 代理人战争以平局告终

The expensive, $27 million political proxy war between Anthropic and OpenAI came to a draw last night when Alex Bores, a New York state Assemblyman whose popularity surged after being targeted by a pro-AI super PAC, narrowly lost the Democratic primary to represent New York’s 12th Congressional district.

昨晚，Anthropic 与 OpenAI 之间耗资 2700 万美元的政治代理人战争以平局告终。纽约州众议员 Alex Bores 在遭到亲 AI 超级政治行动委员会（Super PAC）针对后人气飙升，但最终在代表纽约第 12 国会选区的民主党初选中以微弱劣势落败。

Prior to the race, Bores, a former tech industry employee, had coauthored and successfully passed the high-profile RAISE Act, which had implemented guardrails and safety requirements on frontier AI companies; a version of his bill was signed into state law last year. But the legislation drew the ire of Leading the Future, a $100 million super PAC backing a deregulatory agenda in this year’s midterms that was funded partially by OpenAI, Palantir, and Andreessen Horowitz executives.

在竞选之前，曾任职于科技行业的 Bores 共同起草并成功通过了备受瞩目的《RAISE 法案》，该法案对前沿 AI 公司实施了护栏和安全要求；该法案的一个版本已于去年签署成为州法律。然而，这项立法激怒了“引领未来”（Leading the Future）组织——这是一个支持今年中期选举去监管议程的超级政治行动委员会，拥有 1 亿美元资金，部分资金由 OpenAI、Palantir 和 Andreessen Horowitz 的高管提供。

But his candidacy drew nationwide attention after several other AI-centric super PACs connected to Anthropic began pouring millions into the NY-12 race to defend Bores. (Legally, Bores is not allowed to coordinate his campaign with super PACs.) In the end, the once-obscure Bores came in second to Assemblyman Micah Lasher, 35 percent to 39.1 percent, according to the most recent ballot count.

但随着其他几个与 Anthropic 有关的 AI 导向型超级政治行动委员会开始向纽约第 12 选区投入数百万美元以支持 Bores，他的候选人资格引起了全国关注。（在法律上，Bores 不允许与超级政治行动委员会协调竞选活动。）根据最新的计票结果，这位曾经默默无闻的 Bores 最终以 35% 的得票率位居第二，落后于获得 39.1% 选票的众议员 Micah Lasher。

Ultimately, according to FEC filings, the AI companies spent $27.41 million warring over Bores’s candidacy. Combined, the pro-Bores super PACS — Jobs and Democracy PAC, Dream NYC, You Can Push Back, and the Guardrails Alliance — spent $19.26 million to support Bores, while Leading the Future spent $8.15 million. All in all, an unusually massive amount of money was spilled for one local election — a primary, no less — because it was seen as a bellwether for how the midterms might go, especially when it comes to AI regulation.

根据联邦选举委员会（FEC）的文件，AI 公司最终在 Bores 的候选人资格争夺战中花费了 2741 万美元。支持 Bores 的超级政治行动委员会（Jobs and Democracy PAC、Dream NYC、You Can Push Back 和 Guardrails Alliance）总共花费了 1926 万美元，而“引领未来”组织则花费了 815 万美元。总而言之，一场地方选举——尤其是初选——投入如此巨额的资金实属罕见，因为它被视为中期选举走向的晴雨表，特别是在 AI 监管方面。

But several factors well outside of AI issues factor into Bores’s loss. In fact, local Manhattan politics likely remained the most important aspect. The 35-year-old assemblyman had entered the race facing a steep challenge against Lasher, long viewed as the protégé of the district’s retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and backed by a super PAC run by former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg. (Lasher, notably, had also been a cosponsor of the RAISE Act.)

然而，导致 Bores 落败的因素远不止 AI 问题。事实上，曼哈顿的本地政治可能才是最重要的因素。这位 35 岁的众议员在参选时面临着来自 Lasher 的严峻挑战，后者长期以来被视为该选区即将退休的国会议员 Jerry Nadler（民主党籍）的门生，并得到了由前纽约市长、亿万富翁迈克尔·布隆伯格运营的超级政治行动委员会的支持。（值得注意的是，Lasher 也曾是《RAISE 法案》的共同发起人。）

In a statement congratulating Lasher on his victory, Bores noted that he had not initially entered the race to make “a singular point about AI,” but argued that his surprisingly close performance illustrated a political reality that may carry into the general elections. “Though we’ve come up short tonight, the example set here was not the one the AI oligarchs intended. They set out to make people afraid to stand up to them. Instead, they learned just how ready people are to push back.”

在祝贺 Lasher 获胜的声明中，Bores 指出他最初参选并非为了“专门针对 AI 问题”，但他认为自己出人意料的接近表现揭示了一个可能延续到大选中的政治现实。“虽然我们今晚失败了，但这里树立的榜样并非 AI 寡头们所预期的。他们本想让人们害怕反抗他们，结果却发现人们是多么乐于反击。”