Artificial intelligence money is flooding into the 2026 midterms, with New York's 12th congressional district primary serving as an early proxy war. Former Palantir employee Alex Bores, a state assemblyman who sponsored New York's RAISE Act mandating AI transparency, lost narrowly to Micah Lasher after Leading the Future — a Super PAC backed by Andreessen Horowitz co-founders, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale — spent $8 million against him.

Bores attracted roughly $18 million from regulation-friendly groups, including some backed by Anthropic. The race drew national attention after Governor Kathy Hochul signed the RAISE Act in December, only for President Trump to issue Executive Order 14365 a week earlier targeting state-level AI legislation deemed "burdensome." Lasher, boosted by Michael Bloomberg's largesse, ultimately prevailed.

The outcome delivered a pyrrhic victory for Leading the Future. Its intervention forced Lasher to confront AI policy, prompting a victory-speech pledge to reject industry cues on protecting "kids, jobs and environment." OpenAI has since distanced itself from the PAC, now backing some AI legislation, while Leading the Future has shifted to positive-only advertising and emphasizes collaborative guardrails.

Polling shows bipartisan voter appetite for tough AI regulation, leaving pro-industry groups struggling to define a viable candidate profile. With well-funded opposition groups like Guardrails Alliance ready to counter spending, the Manhattan race suggests heavy AI money may backfire as often as it succeeds.