AI companies are spending millions to thwart this former tech exec’s congressional bid

Alex Bores, a New York assembly member and former Palantir employee, is running for New York's 12th congressional district and has been the target of ads claiming he helped build the technology for ICE and "powered their deportations." Bores says he quit Palantir specifically over its work with ICE in 2019.

The ads are funded by a super PAC called Leading the Future, which counts Palantir co‑founder Joe Lonsdale, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Andreessen Horowitz, Perplexity and others among its backers; the PAC has raised $125 million. Leading the Future has, Bores says, "committed to spending at least $10 million against me…because they know I am their biggest threat in their quest for unbridled control over the American worker, over our kids’ minds, climate, and our utility bills." He argues his tech background is exactly why the PAC picked him as a target, and that if elected he would be only the second Democrat in Congress with a computer science degree.

United States, New York's 12th congressional district

alex bores, palantir, ice, leadingthefuture, super pac, joe lonsdale, greg brockman, andreessen horowitz, perplexity, deportations