THE CRUNCH
OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, has published an essay arguing that the 2028 presidential election could be a defining moment for AI, and he wants politicians to move beyond anti-AI sentiment and develop policies that address Americans' concerns about the technology. He compares AI's potential to reshape the economy to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, the 1930s federal programmes enacted after industrialisation and the Great Depression upended the old economic order, and urges a "compelling third path" that lets people share in AI's benefits.
The essay lays out five policy priorities spanning worker protections, education, AI safety and data centre development. It lands after the midterm elections, in which Democrats flipped control of Congress amid voter frustration over the cost of living, and after opposition to data centres emerged as a bipartisan concern in several races. Lehane acknowledges worries about electricity bills and job displacement, but critics note his proposals lean towards encouraging wider AI adoption rather than binding requirements.
Kate Brennan of the AI Now Institute told TechCrunch the rhetoric marks a shift from OpenAI's agenda last year, which focused on accelerating development and cutting regulatory barriers. "Invoking a New Deal metaphor is to invoke state capacity to actually benefit the public," she said, calling the essay "ahistorical at best and harmful at worst" given it comes from a company advocating for its own benefit. On data centres, Lehane warns that politicians backing moratoriums could jeopardise America's lead over China, comparing that stance to the 2002 vote authorising the Iraq war.