2025-11-19
A battle against the AI oligarchy is brewing in this wealthy New York district
The influence of the AI industry is becoming a major topic in New York’s 12th congressional district, where a crowded Democratic primary packed with millennial and Gen Z candidates is heating up. The seat represents one of the wealthiest communities in the country — and is a liberal stronghold — so whoever wins could eventually become a major player in the fight to limit the most noxious impacts of large language model (LLM) technology.On Tuesday, Cameron Kasky, a political activist and Parkland shooting survivor who lives in the district (which includes the Upper West Side and Upper East Side) announced he was running. His campaign is making fighting the “AI oligarchs” a pivotal focus, adapting the rally cry used by progressive Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for the ChatGPT age. “Generative AI is undoubtedly one of the most societally damaging innovations that humanity has ever created, and people do not understand the toll it will be taking on us,” says Kasky’s new campaign site. “This damage includes the fresh water supplies it is depleting, a media literacy crisis that has already gotten out of control in this country over recent years, and the degree to which children are leaning on AI for therapy, companionship, and more — at the cost of their critical thinking skills and cognitive development.”Kasky says his legislative priorities will include holding AI companies accountable for their environmental impact, preventing mass layoffs, and better regulating the influence of tech companies on child safety. “I have no sympathy for AI, and no tolerance for what it has done to our population. It will only get worse if we do not get in the way as aggressively as possible,” he says.He’s not the only person planning to take on AI in the primary. Alex Bores, a Palantir alum who has proposed state legislation – the RAISE Act – that would rein in the industry, has also made clear that one of his focuses would be regulating artificial intelligence.Earlier this week, he was targeted by ads funded by Leading the Future, a pro-AI super PAC funded by OpenAI executive Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz that’s intent on blunting the influence of tech critics in the upcoming congressional primaries. The group has called Bores’ legislation a “clear example of the patchwork, uninformed, and bureaucratic state laws that would slow American progress and open the door for China to win the global race for AI leadership.” Bores, in turn, has started fundraising off the ads. “This AI super PAC’s first target? Me,” said Bores in a tweet. “Why? They’re scared of leaders who understand their business regulating their business. They want unchecked power at your expense—and I’m the guy standing in their way.It is a crowded race, with about ten people running for the Democratic nomination in total. Most of the other candidates, who include Nadler favorite Micah Lasher, community organizer Liam Elkind, and attorney Jami Floyd, have yet to issue strong positions on artificial intelligence – but that could change. Meanwhile, Kennedy family heir and social media provocateur Jack Schlossberg, who also announced his campaign this month, has at least some thoughts on the tech. Last year, he tweeted his reflections: “Question about AI — Is it sexual ? We’re are ALL sexual beings, that’s just a fact. If AI is non-sexual, does that limit its potential ? or make it unstoppable ?”
