First look: Alex Bores, target of AI super PACs, rolls out AI plan
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Bores at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Photo: Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
Alex Bores, the Democratic New York assembly member running for Congress, is making AI safety central to his campaign with a new policy platform released on Thursday.
Why it matters: Bores is banking that backing AI guardrails will help, not hurt, his bid for Congress — even as pro-AI super PACs spend big against him.
- His campaign raised $2.2 million last year, per FEC filings.
Driving the news: Bores is out with a new AI policy plan for Congress that addresses kids' online and AI safety, data privacy, deepfakes, data centers, AI and workforce concerns, frontier model AI safety and more.
- Bores, who has a masters' in computer science, is vying for Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.)'s seat.
What they're saying: "I think the future here [on AI policy] is hopefully very bipartisan," Bores told Axios in an interview.
- But he said that some on the right "just want to let it rip," while some on the left want to "put the genie back in the bottle."
- Most Americans want guardrails, but don't know what policies would get them there.
- "That's the point of releasing this plan," Bores said.
What's inside: Bores' AI policy framework for Congress includes the following proposals:
- Kids' safety: It calls for age verification and parental consent for AI tools, chatbot safety requirements, AI education guidelines, and a ban on AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
- Data and deepfakes: It proposes a national data privacy law, consumer rights around AI and data, and penalties for "malicious deepfake creation and distribution."
- Data centers: It would block rate utility hikes for residents and require the private sector to cover grid upgrade costs.
- Workforce: It calls for company reporting on AI-related job changes, tax incentives for upskilling, and an "AI dividend" funded by taxing large AI companies.
- Frontier AI: It proposes independent safety testing of powerful AI models, mandatory cybersecurity incident reporting, and coordinating with allies on standards to prevent an AI arms race.
Reality check: Congress has struggled for more than a decade to pass a national data privacy law, along with other kids' online safety and AI legislation.
The big picture: Bores has been the subject of attack ads funded by Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman's Leading the Future PAC, partly over his co-sponsorship of New York's RAISE Act, an AI safety bill signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last December.
- The PAC, which has raised more than $125 million, recently spent $1 million on an ad attacking Bores over his past work at Palantir, calling him a hypocrite for now pushing for AI guardrails.
- Bores has said he left Palantir due to their work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale has contributed to the PAC.
