The $27 million Al proxy war over Alex Bores ends in a draw
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<img alt="" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/gettyimages-2282522212.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" loading="lazy" />
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Alex Bores (D-NY) enters his watch party at The Freehand Hotel after conceding the congressional race to Micah Lasher who will replace Rep Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in NY's 12th Congressional District on June 23, 2026 in New York City. | Photo by Laura Brett/Getty Images. </figcaption>
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<p>The expensive, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/954970/ai-super-pacs-alex-bores-new-york-12th-district" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$27 million political proxy war between Anthropic and OpenAI</a> 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, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2026/06/23/new-york-house-ny-12-primary-election-live-results-lasher-bores-lead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">narrowly lost the Democratic primary</a> to represent New York's 12th Congressional district. </p>
<p>Prior to the race, Bores, a former tech industry employee, had coauthored and successfully passed the high-profile RAISE Act, which had implemented <a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/844062/parents-call-for-new-york-governor-to-sign-landmark-ai-safety-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">guardrails and safety requirements on frontier AI companies</a>; a version of his bill was <a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/849293/ai-alliance-universities-colleges-funding-ad-campaign-against-raise-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">signed into state law last year</a>. But the legislation drew the ire of Leading the Future, a $100 million su …</p>
