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Lasher wins NY-12 as AI industry splits $27M on opposing candidates, names OpenAI and Anthropic in victory speech

Lasher wins NY-12 as AI industry splits $27M on opposing candidates, names OpenAI and Anthropic in victory speech

OpenAI-linked PACs spent $8M to defeat Bores — the race's AI-regulation advocate — while Anthropic-linked PACs spent roughly $7M defending him; Lasher won with 39% on Bloomberg, Hochul, and Nadler endorsements, sidestepping the proxy war entirely. The primary is the first high-profile congressional race where rival AI companies backed opposing candidates at scale, and the winner opened his victory speech by calling both companies out by name — a signal that AI-industry spending does not automatically buy political alignment with the winning candidate.

Source: nbcnews.com ↗

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Think Big, a super PAC affiliated with the pro-AI group Leading the Future, spent at least $8 million against Bores.

Why this matters

  • → AI industry spending failed to determine winner despite $27M proxy war investment
  • → Winning candidate publicly named both OpenAI and Anthropic, signaling independence from tech money
  • → First congressional primary showing competing AI firms backing opposing candidates at scale
AI money's political limits