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On a visit to Washington Wednesday, Altman said that while he doesn’t intend to make political donations himself, he sympathizes with those who’ve promised to put money toward campaigns, owing to growing opposition to their industry.
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“You can’t hold us to a different standard than all of our competitors. If they’re trying to use money to gang up on us, we have to be able to fight back,” Altman said after a meeting with Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, on Capitol Hill. “But I would love to see the rules across the board change.”
“I would love to see money out of politics in general. I think that’d be a great thing to happen,” he added.
Other prominent AI industry figures have thrust themselves into the political fray. Leading the Future, a super political action committee backed by OpenAI President Greg Brockman as well as the co-founders of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, is battling to elect AI friendly candidates and contest emerging state-level efforts to restrict the new technology and curb the construction of data centers.
At the same time, polls have shown that Americans have become increasingly leery of artificial intelligence, fearing its effects on jobs and the environment.
OpenAI has sought to distance itself from Leading the Future, which has received $25 million in donations from Brockman and his wife Anna. OpenAI in a blog post on Tuesday said it was not affiliated with the super PAC, which fights for lighter-touch AI regulation.
OpenAI’s top competitor Anthropic PBC gave $20 million to a rival super PAC, Public First Action, which advocates for tougher AI safety regulations.
Sanders’ remarks after the meeting with Altman reflected the emerging political battle lines for November, and likely into 2028.
“They have $300 million ready to go to take on any member of Congress who objects to what they are doing, and that is bad,” he said. “That Congress has not stood up for the American people in taking on AI is precisely because of the huge amounts of money.”
In a New York Times op-ed this week, Sanders called for legislation to create what he called a sovereign wealth fund that would be financed with a one-time 50% tax on the stock of big AI companies, with the proceeds redirected as payments to the public.
Altman’s trip to Capitol Hill took place as OpenAI lays the groundwork for an initial public offering later this year that could value the company at nearly $1 trillion. Archrival AI developer Anthropic filed confidentially for an IPO this week following a funding round that valued it at $965 billion.
The OpenAI co-founder also met with other lawmakers, including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. While in the nation’s capital, Altman also visited the White House for discussions with administration officials on the company’s regulatory agenda.
The Washington visit unfolded just a day after President Donald Trump called for AI companies to voluntarily share cutting-edge models for government review before their release.
–With assistance from John Harney, Courtney Subramanian and Maggie Eastland.
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