Behind the curtain: OpenAI’s post-election power play

“You can try to chase the moment, or seek to inform the present moment through the power of ideas,” explains Chris Lehane, director of global affairs at OpenAI, calling Tuesday “an election portal from one era to another.”

• Since August, Lehane and his team have assembled policy proposals, some new and some repackaged, to create urgency and shape the AI ​​debate.
• It will all begin during the lame-duck session of Congress – the difficult but often fraught weeks between the election and the swearing-in of new members and senators on January 3. This year’s lame session opens on November 9.

The big picture: Other tech companies are also positioning themselves for a potential blue wave. Meta is taking steps to strengthen its ties to Democrats, Axios’ Sara Fischer said Saturday. Other big players in AI and technology can be expected to follow suit.

• Tech titans who have close relationships with President Trump will be key targets for Democrats, eager to step up oversight and regulatory pressure on the industry.

OpenAI projects, revealed here for the first time, all involve control – trying to send the message that AI is designed for people, not to move them. The proposals include:

1. Speed ​​limits: Building on previous proposals, OpenAI plans to unveil new ideas for mandatory safeguards for the most powerful AI systems – speed limits for AI that will allow humans to keep their hands on the wheel. This will involve a more aggressive congressional campaign. “You’re going to see us talk more and more about the concept of speed limits,” Lehane said. “We believe people should always remain in control of this technology. AI should be built by and for people, and people should have more control over how technology shapes their lives and their communities.”
2. Data centers: OpenAI hopes to stem the bipartisan backlash nationally by proposing new pacts and community commitments to pave the way for future data centers. Additionally, the company will attempt to set a new industry standard by proposing national legislation that gives people a meaningful say in how projects are built and what benefits they receive. In an intentionally provocative rebranding effort, OpenAI will argue that the infrastructure it is building, unlike existing data centers, should be called “AI compute campuses” that can economically transform host communities. OpenAI highlights its role in the development of a massive data center project that promises to create thousands of jobs in Pike County in Ohio’s Appalachian region. “We think the conversation is good and healthy,” Lehane said. “This is democracy in action. Communities should hold companies responsible and accountable so that they actually and truly gain a transformative benefit from these projects.”
3. Economic opportunity: OpenAI is developing ideas to help more people see AI as a powerful tool in their daily lives and work, including supporting workers during disruptions, expanding access to education and training, and making it easier to start and grow a business.
4. International cooperation: OpenAI will push the United States to shape global standards with AI based on democratic values.

Between the lines: OpenAI attempts to chart a human-centered “third way” in a debate that often defaults to an artificial binary between catastrophists and accelerators.

• Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, speaking to the UN Security Council in September, called for an approach to AI that leads to a “new renaissance of creativity and discovery.”

What we’re looking at: OpenAI’s overtures are aimed in part at 2028 presidential candidates, who will speak more and more clearly about their plans starting Wednesday. “AI is going to be THE question in 2028,” Lehane said, calling the midterms “a bit of a movie trailer for what you’re going to see in 2028.”

• “I don’t think it’s going to be enough to just say ‘AI is bad,'” Lehane added. “The public understands that this is a much more complex and nuanced conversation. They’re going to be looking for whoever their FDR or Lincoln is that actually wants to try to guide them through this journey.”
• Lehane said candidates should ask themselves: “How do we begin to think about trust? How do we think about the incredible anxiety that exists in modernity? How do we think about the fact that people are deeply unhappy with where their social contract is, where the American dream is?”

The bottom line: Plans for the coming months are just the beginning of OpenAI’s efforts to inject more urgency into Washington and push the industry on border security. Remember: every day, AI models become more powerful and more difficult to master.

• “Our policy priorities – and our urgency, particularly on border security – are to respond to the moment in response to rapid advances in capabilities,” Lehane said. “And we expect that to continue as a new Congress prepares.”

Bradley Olson of Axios contributed.

Go deeper: “AI rules the AI ​​world.”