AI safety advocates, doomers, pro-innovation groups pour hundreds of millions into congressional midterms
Techies from both sides of the AI safety debate are pouring a fortune into next month’s midterms, with at least $48 million reportedly going to pols poised to crack down on the burgeoning tech.Tech-worker-backed AI safety group Guardrails Alliance, which has raised $11.7 million, is among the groups funneling cash to candidates in favor of regulations, Axios reported Wednesday.OpenAI’s Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe – who has said he’s interested in “mitigating catastrophic risks” – has given about $400,000 to political action group Dream NYC.It previously funneled some $2.5 million to New York State Assemblyman Alex Bores, a prominent AI safety supporter, for his failed campaign, according to AI site Transformer.Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, one of the most prominent techies voicing alarm over AI, has committed $1 million to safety-focused political group Public First.
It backs candidates who want to slow down or regulate AI development.AI safety doomers have donated at least $41,000 to Democrat Peggy Flanagan – a Sen.Bernie Sanders-backed Senate candidate in Minnesota who has called AI an “existential threat” to humanity, as The Post previously reported.Meanwhile, anti-regulation, pro-innovation groups have pumped massive sums to their campaigns of choice.Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman have plowed $25 million and $12.5 million, respectively, into super PAC Leading the Future.
It has used its war chest of $149 million to support candidates like moderate pro-business Democrat Melissa Bean in her Illinois congressional district, according to Transformer.The donations come amid a fierce debate over AI safety – with top companies including Anthropic and OpenAI advocating for development slowdowns even as they race to advance their own technology.Meanwhile, warnings that AI could harm humanity — and opposition to the massive data centers powering the tech — have only grown louder on both sides of the aisle.Pro-...