OpenAI Employees Back Competing Super PAC to Challenge Their Employer

A coalition of grassroots OpenAI employees has contributed over $215,000 to a super PAC advocating for tighter regulations on frontier AI laboratories. The Guardrails Alliance, which launched last month with initial funding of $5 million, presents itself as a grassroots initiative backed by tech workers, labor groups, and various organizations. Its goal is to balance the influence of Leading the Future, a pro-AI industry super PAC funded with upwards of $100 million from tech leaders, including OpenAI president and cofounder, Greg Brockman.

According to WIRED, seven current OpenAI employees and one former employee have donated to the Guardrails Alliance. The super PAC shared some of its donors’ names exclusively with WIRED prior to its first quarterly filing with the Federal Election Commission, which will be made public on July 15. Two OpenAI employees are expected to be included in that filing, while five others will be revealed in future disclosures from the Guardrails Alliance.

One of the most significant contributions from an OpenAI employee came from Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe, who donated $200,000 to the political group. Cerón Uribe, a research engineer at OpenAI since 2022, told WIRED that he dedicated the last four years to developing strategies aimed at minimizing societal risks posed by AI.

“During this time, I’ve grown concerned that all that research could be in vain if it doesn’t lead to regulations that hold private companies accountable for responsible AI development,” Cerón Uribe stated. “Tech billionaires like Greg Brockman funded the Leading the Future super PAC to keep AI unregulated. I was thrilled to learn that Guardrails Alliance is standing up against LTF; my decision to support them was straightforward.”

Contributions from current and former OpenAI personnel account for a small fraction of Guardrails Alliance’s broader target of raising $15 million this election cycle, and they pale in comparison to the $50 million commitment made by Brockman and his wife, Anna, to Leading the Future.

Despite their modest size, the donations from OpenAI’s grassroots employees underscore the rising tensions within the company over its direction in shaping AI policy. Brockman’s contributions to Leading the Future have raised alarm among some OpenAI employees, prompting them to seek clarity from executives regarding the company’s connections to the super PAC. Although OpenAI leaders have attempted to dissociate from the group, a number of employees are now using their own resources to directly challenge Leading the Future.

Shaunna Thomas, a cofounder of Guardrails Alliance, asserts that she is not worried about the financial gap between her organization and its opponents. “Reaching $15 million allows us to engage with Leading the Future in more [political] races,” Thomas, a seasoned Democratic political organizer, noted in an interview with WIRED. “However, we don’t need to match our opponents dollar-for-dollar. When you unveil the actions of AI PACs, the public tends to reject them. We’re capitalizing on the existing public sentiment, which is a less costly approach.”

Following the launch of Leading the Future last year, Thomas recognized that political figures advocating for new regulations on the AI sector would “struggle to advance that discussion when a $100 million threat looms over them.”

Leading the Future, which debuted last summer with Brockman as a prominent supporter, claims its mission is to “oppose policies that hinder innovation” and those who “endorse such agendas.” Among its initial political actions was an attempt to derail the congressional campaign of Alex Bores, the author of New York’s pivotal AI safety law, who ultimately lost in a primary election last month. The group has since thrown its support behind various pro-industry candidates nationwide. Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief of global affairs, previously informed WIRED that he assisted in establishing Leading the Future and has generally advised Brockman on his political contributions, although he does not participate in the PAC’s daily operations.