The new Democratic nominee for a congressional seat in Manhattan had a strong message for the AI industry on Tuesday night.
After defeating a crowded field of eight candidates in New York's 12th congressional district, Micah Lasher, who won by 39.1%, took aim at the tech giants and their allies who spent heavily to shape the outcome of the deep-blue seat.
"I have some news for the two big AI companies who've taken such an unusual interest in who won this congressional seat," Lasher said at a rally at Jacob's Pickles, an NYC staple famous for elevating the pickle from a garnish to a main course, following his victory. "I won't be taking my cues from either of you when it comes to protecting our kids, our jobs."
The swipe at AI companies didn't come out of nowhere. On the trail, Lasher cast himself as a skeptic of Silicon Valley's push for lighter-touch regulation, stating on his website that AI could "displace workers, exacerbate inequalities, and pose a threat to our environment and public safety." He has also raised concerns about the rapid expansion of AI data centers and the industry's growing energy demands.
The race in Manhattan became an unlikely battleground in the fight over how Washington should regulate AI, illustrating a schism in Silicon Valley.
Millions of dollars flowed into the contest, much of it aimed at either helping or hurting Assemblymember Alex Bores, a Democrat and former Palantir employee who backed stronger AI safeguards, as competing factions of the tech world backed different candidates and different visions for AI policy.
Bores quit Palantir during Donald Trump's first term, citing concerns about the company's work on immigration enforcement.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Think Big, a super PAC opposed to additional AI regulations backed in part by leaders at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, spent about $8 million to prevent Bores from winning. Meanwhile, tech giants backing more AI safety regulations, including the Jobs and Democracy PAC, supported by donors with ties to Anthropic and Adobe, spent more than $13 million to boost Bores' candidacy.
The clash came as New York emerges as one of the more aggressive states in the country in regulating the AI industry, and as data centers have become a growing flash point. New York State lawmakers have advanced proposals that would temporarily halt the issuance of permits for large new data centers while officials study their impact on the electric grid, utility bills, water consumption, and climate goals.
Lasher is a cosponsor of New York's Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, a proposal aimed at placing safeguards on advanced AI systems, which is the same legislation that made Bores a target for some AI industry groups.
Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Lasher campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
