MANHATTAN — A Democratic primary debate for New York's 12th congressional district was broadcast on a Thursday night by PIX11. The primary election for the district is scheduled for June 23, following U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler's announcement of his retirement from the seat.
New York State Assembly member Alex Bores, a candidate for the congressional seat, sponsored state legislation requiring major artificial intelligence developers to report dangerous incidents. Industry groups opposed to artificial intelligence regulation and groups supporting it have spent money on campaigns related to Bores.
During the debate, Bores faced criticism regarding campaign spending and political endorsements. New York State Assembly member Micah Lasher, who was endorsed by Jerry Nadler for the seat, raised concerns about external funding. Lasher said, "Alex only wants to tell you half the story, about one AI company that's spending millions to defeat him, and that's bad. But he's not telling you the story about Anthropic, which is spending a million dollars to elect him, or a crypto billionaire who is spending $3.5 million to send him to Congress."
Congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg also criticized Bores' proposed artificial intelligence regulation. Schlossberg stated, "Bores' proposed artificial intelligence regulation is a dream come true for tech companies because it would give them too much control."
Bores was interrupted by a commercial break before he could respond to an exchange during the debate. Three of the five commercials aired during the break focused on Bores. One advertisement, funded by Think Big PAC, claimed Bores was "bought and sold" by corporate interests. Think Big PAC is supported by artificial intelligence-aligned groups. Another advertisement supporting Bores featured a robotic voice identifying itself as "the AI super PAC funded by Trump's megadonors designed to destroy Alex Bores." A second advertisement supporting Bores portrayed him as a champion of the working class.
Bores said, "With friends like these, who needs Republicans?" He also said, "The Trump disinformation is coming from inside the party." Bores also said, "You've seen tonight that I'm nothing like the incessant text and mailers and TV ads that are being sent out to demonize me. But I am terrifying to Trump's megadonors and apparently to my opponents as well." Bores previously worked as a data scientist at Palantir and said he left the company after it signed a contract to assist the first Trump administration with immigration enforcement.