Regulation
Colorado AI Act full compliance deadline approaching June 30
The Colorado AI Act, the first comprehensive state-level AI governance law, reaches its full compliance deadline on June 30, 2026. Organizations deploying high-risk AI systems in Colorado must have impact assessments and algorithmic discrimination protections in place.
Why this mattersColorado is the first real test of whether state-level AI regulation can be enforced in practice. How companies respond here will set the pattern for other states.
Ongoing, deadline Jun 30, 2026
Elections
AI's most expensive primary is decided — Bores loses despite more money on his side
Micah Lasher won the NY-12 Democratic primary with 39% of the vote. Alex Bores, who authored the RAISE Act and became the top target of AI industry opposition spending, finished second at 35%. The race was the most expensive AI PAC contest of the 2026 cycle — $27.41M in AI-linked independent expenditures flowed into this single primary. Think Big (Leading the Future network) spent $8.15M opposing Bores. On the other side, Jobs and Democracy ($13.16M), You Can Push Back ($3.34M), Dream NYC ($2.48M), and Guardrails Alliance ($285K) spent a combined $19.26M supporting him — a more than 2-to-1 advantage. The result defies a simple narrative: Bores had more AI money behind him than against him and still lost. The largest single PAC in the race was not an AI group — Michael Bloomberg's Stand for New York spent close to $10M backing Lasher, who also had endorsements from Rep. Nadler and Gov. Hochul and strong support among older voters. Whether AI industry opposition spending contributed to Bores' loss, or whether Bloomberg's money, the endorsements, and a crowded field mattered more, will be debated. Bores' response: 'Though we've come up short tonight, the example set here was not the one the AI oligarchs intended.'
Why this mattersThe AI industry intended this race as a warning to candidates who cross it. But Bores came within 4 points despite being massively outspent by Bloomberg on the other side, and the pro-safety PACs actually outspent the pro-innovation opposition. The lesson may be less about AI money's power and more about the limits of outside spending against a well-funded, well-endorsed establishment candidate.
June 23, 2026
ElectionsDisclosure
AI PAC spending climbs to $53.75M — pro-safety opens $9M lead
FEC-verified independent expenditures on 2026 candidates now total $53.75M (Transformer-aligned, June 24): $31.37M pro-safety vs $22.38M pro-innovation. Pro-safety has opened a roughly $9M lead, driven almost entirely by the NY-12 race supporting Alex Bores from Jobs and Democracy ($13.16M), You Can Push Back ($3.34M), Dream NYC ($2.48M), and Guardrails Alliance ($285K).
Why this mattersTwo months ago the conventional read was that industry money would swamp pro-regulation candidates. By dollar volume, the opposite happened — pro-safety PACs now outspend pro-innovation across the cycle.
Elections
Scorecard update: Hern wins Oklahoma, 11 AI-backed candidates have now advanced
Of decided races where AI super PAC money was spent, 11 backed candidates have advanced, 1 lost (Jesse Jackson Jr., IL-02), and 1 is pending verification (Bob Brooks, PA-07). Advanced: Panetta (CA-19), McGowan (IA-04), Bean (IL-08), Foushee (NC-04), Buckhout (NC-01), Menendez (NJ-08), Kingston (GA-01), Graham (SC-Sen), Ricketts (NE-Sen), Poindexter (OH-07), and Hern (OK-Sen) — who won the June 16 GOP primary, Trump-endorsed, and advances to November in a safe-Republican seat. Defending Our Values PAC's $808K pro-safety bet backed a winner.
Why this mattersSeveral of these winners (Graham, Hern, Ricketts) were heavily favored incumbents or Trump-endorsed frontrunners in safe seats, where AI PAC money was a small fraction of total spending and not decisive to the outcome. The clearest test of whether AI money actually moves a race remains NY-12 (Bores), decided June 23.
June 17, 2026
Elections
Support for Bores overtakes opposition in most expensive AI race
Pro-safety PACs have now outspent the opposition in NY-12 — $6.81M supporting Alex Bores vs $6.31M opposing, $13.12M total, the costliest AI PAC race in the country. As Transformer's Veronica Irwin noted, many assumed Bores would be 'stamped out' by industry money; that's not what happened.
Why this mattersThe marquee test of whether AI industry money can defeat a pro-regulation candidate is breaking against the industry.
Elections
First results are in: AI-backed candidates split
The earliest 2026 primaries have produced the first results in races where AI money was spent. Among pro-innovation (Leading the Future network) picks: Melissa Bean (IL-08) advanced, but Jesse Jackson Jr. (IL-02) lost despite $1.43M in Think Big support. Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and Chris McGowan (IA-04) advanced. Among pro-safety picks: Valerie Foushee (NC-04) won a razor-thin primary with $1.61M in support. The marquee race — Bores in NY-12 — votes June 23.
Why this mattersThe first scorecard on whether AI PAC money actually moves primaries is mixed — at least one heavily backed candidate (Jackson Jr.) lost outright.
June 10, 2026