NEW YORK — A state lawmaker who gained national attention for his opposition to unchecked AI during a failed campaign for Congress this year is launching a $30 million effort to unite Democrats around regulating the technology, according to the organization’s new website.
New York Assemblymember Alex Bores is unveiling the organization — called “Who Decides” — on Tuesday to “build the winning Democratic answer to AI,” according to a website that was publicly available Monday night.
“Who Decides’ goal is that by 2028, Democratic candidates from the top of the ticket on down run with a common AI safety agenda,” reads an announcement on the site dated Tuesday. “That means addressing the harms people already see and the broader danger that increasingly powerful and out-of-control systems could destabilize our economy, our democracy, and our safety.”
It was not immediately clear whether Who Decides would be organized as a federal super PAC, 501(c)(4) nonprofit or other type of group. The website has a “donate” link that redirects to a webpage hosted by “Give Butter,” an organization focused on helping nonprofits fundraise. The announcement said the group would reject “corporate money or contributions from senior executives at frontier AI companies.”
Bores did not immediately respond to questions about the organization Monday night, including whether Bores, a sitting state lawmaker, personally fundraised for the group while holding public office. He is launching the organization with his former chief of staff, Anna Myers, the website says.
The apparent launch of Who Decides comes at a moment when the quickly-advancing technology has become a major political issue.
Last week, a former Anthropic researcher issued a dire warning that artificial intelligence has a chance of bringing about the end of humanity. The concerns from the researcher, Jacob Coxon, who also worked for OpenAI, were followed up by calls from the leaders of Anthropic and OpenAI, along with Elon Musk, to regulate the industry and slow development to build more guardrails.
Politicians have scrambled to respond, with both parties trying to coalesce around a policy agenda — and political message — on the rapidly evolving issue. Former President Barack Obama called last week for Democrats to focus on AI, and prominent party strategists from across the ideological spectrum gathered to begin mapping out a strategy.
President Donald Trump rejected recent calls from Republicans and Democrats to quickly regulate the industry in a spate of Monday social media posts.
“We don’t let five people write the laws for hundreds of millions of Americans,” Bores says in the launch announcement on the website, an apparent reference to the top executives in the AI industry. “There is no reason to let them write the rules for AI.”
The group says on the site it will focus on 11 states that it says will be key to the 2028 presidential primary and general election: South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, Virginia, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It says it will conduct quarterly national and state polls, host national conferences and partner with local groups in the states.
Earlier this year, Bores lost the primary for retiring Manhattan Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat. His campaign largely centered on a push to regulate artificial intelligence following his work to pass the RAISE Act in the state Legislature, which aimed to enact safeguards for the technology. His campaign attracted a combined $21 million from super PACs backed by dueling factions of the AI community, which spent both in support and opposition of him. Democratic Assemblymember Micah Lasher ultimately won the primary and is all but assured to win in November in the deep-blue seat.
“The lesson Bores and Myers took from those fights was that confronting the AI industry is fertile political ground and that public demand for answers on AI policy exists but remains scattered,” the website said, referencing his congressional campaign. “What’s missing is a coalition capable of turning that energy into a governing consensus before the technology, the economic dislocation, and the partisan battle lines harden.”