{"slug": "why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground", "title": "Why not take the AI fight to the ground?", "summary": "Alex Bores is running for Congress in NY-12, with voting beginning today. The author suggests that instead of solely supporting Bores, AI safety advocates should ally with anti-data-center movements to push for restrictions on frontier AI models, using local bans and ballot measures as leverage.", "body_md": "You may have heard that many of us are working very hard to elect Alex Bores to Congress in the NY-12 Democratic primary. Voting begins today. See ny12.org to learn how to vote, and text/call your Manhattanite friends reminding them to do so.\n\nThis strategy has some limitations: Alex will be in the minority party for two years, and Congress is ineffective just anyway. More of the value in an Alex victory seems secondary: it shows D voters stand up to pro-AI PAC money and there will now be an AI-literate Congressperson.\n\nSo, regarding an alternate strategy, you may have heard everyone hates data centers. It's a become a fervor with a large number of people believing data centers are on the cusp of taking all their energy and water. Given that we also believe that for more doom-related reasons, we may be better off allying with them, than extolling the virtues of data centers while trying to sell technical regulation to them.\n\nI don't \"good policy\"-level support a data center moratorium, but I can tolerate bits and pieces of a data center moratorium if it strengthens the anti-AI bloc and if I get a stake in it.\n\nFor example I might collaborate with a county commissioner relative of mine:\n\n**Me: **\"Hey, that data center ban you're working on? Mind slipping in a clause that AI companies can't ship untested models to Random County, KA?\"\n\n**She: \"** That's more of a state thing is it not?\"\n\n**Me:** \"Nah, don't care. Make 'em fight it. I just want people thinking about what an 'untested model' is.\"\n\nOr consider the ballot measure: for reasons I don't recall, they're used quite a bit in California, and even a failed ballot measure is a way to put a message in front of many people at once. The \"data center ban\" on XY state's ballot measure ought to include a clause about frontier models. Most people might not know or think about that clause but as long as it's in the same direction as the data center ban, it's fine.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground", "canonical_source": "https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ces8Sn8htnv5h8BDc/why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground", "published_at": "2026-06-13 15:04:26+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-13 15:18:57.873042+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-safety", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Alex Bores", "NY-12", "Congress", "Manhattan"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-not-take-the-ai-fight-to-the-ground.jsonld"}}