Who’s really running AI? Inside the billion-dollar battle over regulation with Alex Bores 

Who’s really running AI? Inside the billion-dollar battle over regulation with Alex Bores 
The Pentagon is playing chicken with Anthropic over who gets to control how the military uses AI while communities across the country are blocking data center construction.

<p id="speakable-summary" class="has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph">The Pentagon is <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/24/anthropic-wont-budge-as-pentagon-escalates-ai-dispute/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">playing chicken with Anthropic</a> over who gets to control how the military uses AI while communities across the country are <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/25/the-public-opposition-to-ai-infrastructure-is-heating-up/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blocking data center construction</a>. As the AI debate has been flattened to “doomers versus boomers,” one state legislator is attempting to walk a middle road. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On this episode of TechCrunch’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Equity</a> podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Alex Bores, a New York State Assemblymember and candidate for U.S. Congress. Bores sponsored New York’s first-of-its-kind AI safety law <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-nation-leading-legislation-require-ai-frameworks-ai-frontier-models" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">the RAISE Act</a> — and quickly became the target of a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/silicon-valley-is-pouring-millions-into-pro-ai-pacs-to-sway-midterms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Silicon Valley lobbying group with $125 million to spend</a> on attack ads. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Listen to the full episode to hear about: </p>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">The <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/20/anthropic-funded-group-backs-candidate-attacked-by-rival-ai-super-pac/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dueling super PACs</a> now fighting over AI’s future, and why Anthropic’s $20 million bet on the pro-regulation side matters. </li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/20/new-york-governor-kathy-hochul-signs-raise-act-to-regulate-ai-safety/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What the RAISE Act actually requires</a>, and why it’s being called the blueprint for AI regulation nationwide. </li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">Whether AI regulation ends up looking like finance and biotech or goes the way of social media — largely unregulated until the damage is done. </li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">What’s coming next from Bores’ office: bills on training data disclosure, content provenance, and a 43-point national AI framework. </li>
</ul>
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