Ex-NY Lawmaker Launches AI Advocacy Nonprofit

Former New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores, who co-authored the state's frontier AI safety law, the RAISE Act, has launched a new nonprofit organization named Who Decides. This initiative aims to empower the American public with a voice in the development of artificial intelligence. Bores, a former Palantir engineer, ran for Congress on a platform emphasizing AI regulation, despite receiving donations from within the AI industry. His campaign faced significant opposition, with the super PAC Leading the Future, funded partly by OpenAI president Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz, spending over $7.6 million against him. Conversely, Public First Action, backed by $20 million from Anthropic, supported Bores' campaign. The total outside spending in his congressional primary race exceeded $40 million, marking it as the most expensive House primary of the cycle, though Bores ultimately lost the election.

The formation of Who Decides follows Bores' electoral loss and is a collaboration with his former chief of staff, Anna Myers. The nonprofit has already secured $10 million in funding and plans to raise an additional $20 million by 2027, targeting a total of $30 million in preparation for the 2028 election cycle. Bores intends for Who Decides to serve as a unifying force for AI advocacy organizations that already have the trust of Democrats. The organization's strategy involves assisting these groups in developing their own agendas rather than imposing a pre-defined one, thereby establishing a "shared floor of an agenda on things that we all want to see good done." Bores articulated his vision to Fortune, stating, "Give the American people a say in how AI develops." He contrasted public understanding of AI with more established policy areas like Medicare or the Green New Deal, noting that while voters have clear answers for those issues, AI remains in a "gray area" where even the fundamental questions are still being defined.

The RAISE Act, which was signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul late last year after a period of legislative negotiation, required the formation of a coalition comprising 55 diverse organizations. These stakeholders spanned various aspects of AI policy, including those focused on chatbot technology in educational settings. In contrast, the opposition to the act was characterized by Bores as originating from a "small subset of Silicon Valley" that holds a particular view on AI development. The establishment of Who Decides signifies a strategic effort to shift the narrative and ensure broader public participation in shaping the future of artificial intelligence, moving beyond the influence of a concentrated industry segment.