Why Are Palantir and OpenAI Scared of Alex Bores? | The Ezra Klein Show

Leading the Future, a super PAC whose funders include the founders of companies like Palantir and OpenAI, is spending millions of dollars this election cycle, and a considerable amount of that money is going toward attack ads against Alex Bores – even though Bores himself used to work for Palantir. Bores is a New York state assemblyman who is running for Congress to represent New York’s 12th District. His campaign includes an extensive A.I. policy platform, including demands for A.I. companies to be more transparent about safety, and an idea for an “A.I. dividend” that would redistribute some of the profits of A.I. companies to the public. So his race has turned into a central battleground over the future of the A.I. industry and who has the power to shape it. In this conversation, we discuss how Bores went from working for Palantir to running a campaign that would regulate the A.I. industry, the major issues he thinks A.I. policy needs to address, and his response to the attacks against him. 00:00:00 Intro 00:13:54 Palantir's anti-A.I. stance & Trump 00:17:17 Why Alex Bores left Palantir 00:22:20 The philosophy behind the RAISE Act 00:31:39 A.I.’s specific harms vs. vague gains 00:39:06 The A.I. dividend explained 00:42:00 Universal basic income and job displacement 00:46:24 Policy for displaced workers 00:50:00 Waymo's practical challenges 00:53:55 The dignity of work 00:56:00 Why not stop superintelligence? 01:01:17 Expanding government A.I. capacity 01:10:59 A positive vision for A.I. 01:15:30 Using A.I. to cut red tape 01:22:51 The political battle for A.I. regulation 01:30:07 Book recommendations Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-alex-bores.html Watch more on @EzraKleinShow Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html