The $100 Million Tell - Nomads Vagabonds
Two announcements caught my eye this week and they should catch yours too. Meta is launching a California super PAC to elevate light‑touch AI candidates statewide, with “tens of millions” committed, and a separate “Leading the Future” super PAC network has at least 100 million dollars behind it from a16z, OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, and others. These vehicles are explicitly designed to tilt California and a small set of other big states toward industry‑preferred rules (or lack thereof). This isn't a sign that reasonable state AI safety measures are doomed. It’s precisely the opposite. You don’t drop $100 million to lobby if the debate is already settled in your favor. The Senate’s 99–1 vote in July to kill a ten‑year federal moratorium on state AI laws already told us the same thing: The real fight over AI safety is happening at the state level. And those fights are very much winnable. But if we’re going to win them, we need to start now, and we don't need nine-figure budgets to do it. T
Two announcements caught my eye this week and they should catch yours too. Meta is launching a California super PAC to elevate light‑touch AI candidates statewide, with “tens of millions” committed, and a separate “Leading the Future” super PAC network has at least 100 million dollars behind it from a16z, OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, and others. These vehicles are explicitly designed to tilt California and a small set of other big states toward industry‑preferred rules (or lack thereof). This isn't a sign that reasonable state AI safety measures are doomed. It’s precisely the opposite. You…
related reading
- AI’s next big blue battleground - by Veronica Irwintransformernews.ai
- How to Actually Spend Billions on AI Safetythecounterfactual.substack.com
- How to Actually Spend Billions on AI Safety — EA Forumforum.effectivealtruism.org
- Meet the super PAC trying to kill AI regulationtransformernews.ai
- A guide to the AI tribes - by Michel Justen - What is thismicheljusten.substack.com
- AI safety PACs should be more transparent about who’s funding themtransformernews.ai
- AI populism's safety problemtransformernews.ai
- Leading the Future - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- An Oregon congresswoman distanced herself from Leading the Future — then backtrackedtransformernews.ai
- Silicon Valley, the New Lobbying Monster | The New Yorkernewyorker.com
- Inside the Lobbying Frenzy Over California's AI Companion Bills | TechPolicy.Presstechpolicy.press
- Which side of the AI safety community are you in? — LessWronglesswrong.com