New York City House primary emerges as key battleground in ‘AI civil war’

New York City’s Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District has become the most expensive proxy fight over artificial intelligence regulation in the 2026 midterms, as rival Super Pacs pour millions into a race that one candidate calls a referendum on whether AI can be regulated at all. AI-focused Super Pacs have raised roughly $100m this cycle, with $44m spent so far, and nearly half of that spending has targeted the Manhattan district where Democratic assemblymember Alex Bores faces a competitive primary on Tuesday [1]. Bores, who sponsored the Raise Act requiring major AI developers to publish public safety plans, has drawn $8.2m in opposition spending from Leading the Future, a bipartisan network of Super Pacs funded by venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, along with OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, according to Federal Election Commission data [1]. Leading the Future advocates for a federal regulatory framework rather than state-by-state laws, which tech firms argue would create a compliance minefield [1]. Its spending triggered a counter-assault from a different set of Super Pacs, including You Can Push Back, funded by crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, and Jobs and Democracy, the Democratic-focused subsidiary of the Public First network founded by former Oklahoma congressman Brad Carson [1]. Combined, the tech-funded Pacs have spent $11m on the NY-12 race [1]. Public First’s funding is partially opaque, though the AI company Anthropic has publicly announced a $20m contribution [1]. Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI members and valued at an estimated $965bn as of May 2026, has marketed itself around AI safety [11]. Carson said Public First raised another $45m from various industries, including from people working at OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and X [1]. Bores has framed the contest in stark terms. “This is the first congressional race in the country where the dividing line is: can we regulate AI at all?” he said in a campaign video [1]. Carson acknowledged the unintended effect of the opposition spending: “They’ve made Alex Bores into a national star” [1]. The spending blitz arrives amid broader political shifts in New York City. The 2025 mayoral election saw democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani win with 50.78% of the vote, riding high young-voter turnout to become the first Muslim and first South Asian mayor [3]. The 2026 House primaries, held on June 23, delivered what was described as a “clean sweep” for progressive and socialist candidates in several districts, a show of strength for the city’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter [2]. Research suggests AI remains politically unpopular. A recent YouGov poll found two-thirds of US voters believe it is advancing too quickly, while only one in five think its economic impact will be positive overall [1]. Henry Ajder, a generative AI expert, said AI companies are increasingly viewed with the same suspicion as Wall Street. “The dynamics of Wall Street and the opaque sense of elites making decisions about us that don’t benefit us – I think AI companies are increasingly being seen in a similar light, whether you’re on the right or the left,” Ajder said [1]. Beyond New York, Public First has spent $1.6m behind Representative Valerie Foushee, co-chair of the House Democratic Commission on AI, and $1.5m in Texas supporting House candidate Carlos De La Cruz, who says he is “committed to ensuring the United States wins the AI race against China” [1]. The group also gave $800,000 to Oklahoma congressman Kevin Hern, who simultaneously received money from Leading the Future [1]. On Thursday, another AI-focused Super Pac, Guardrails Alliance, launched with labor union backing and a pledge not to take corporate money [1].