Silicon Valley funds Alex Bores's opponents after he passed a tough AI law

Alex Bores is not a typical politician. A former analyst at Palantir, one of the world's most influential technology companies, he entered the New York state legislature with a specific goal: to regulate the industry he worked in. The result was one of the strictest AI laws in the United States.

Now Silicon Valley is pouring millions of dollars to prevent him from reaching Congress. Bores' story is a story about the conflict between Silicon Valley and attempts by the state to rein it in. Unlike most legislators, he understands the industry from the inside: he knows how algorithms work, how decisions about automation are made, and which risks are real, not invented for political speeches.

It is precisely this knowledge that helped him pass a law that many major players consider too strict. The New York AI law, to which Bores contributed, requires companies to disclose information about algorithms involved in significant decisions — in hiring, lending, housing rental. The law establishes audit mechanisms and introduces real accountability for violations.

This is not a declaration of intent: sanctions are spelled out concretely. The industry's reaction was predictable — and massive. Major technology companies and associated lobbying structures began financing campaigns against Bores, who is now running for the U.

S. House of Representatives. According to Wired, among the donors are insiders from the very core of Silicon Valley.

The logic is simple: if Bores reaches Congress with the same approach that worked in New York, the threat will spread across the entire country. It is telling that Bores is not opposed to technology. He does not call for banning AI and does not play on fears of robots.

His position is more nuanced: technology must be accountable to society, not just to shareholders. It is precisely because of this that this argument is so uncomfortable — it comes from someone speaking the language of the industry. The situation around Bores exposes a systemic problem in American politics: a catastrophic lack of legislators who understand how modern technologies work.

Most congressmen perceive AI as an abstraction, not as a system with a specific architecture and specific consequences. Bores is a rare exception, and this is precisely what makes him a valuable resource for some and a dangerous threat to others. Silicon Valley's opposition speaks for itself: when an industry spends millions to block a specific candidate, it is a sign that he has touched something truly important.

If Bores wins, he will bring to Washington not just ideas, but practical experience. If he loses, the industry will have confirmation that money in politics still decides. In any case, this story has already become a marker: the battle for the rules of the game in the age of AI will be fierce, and insiders in it are the most dangerous of all.