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When the Democratic primary for New York’s 12th congressional district was called on Tuesday night, the result capped off one of the most expensive races of its kind in the state’s history. More than $24m poured into the Manhattan contest from tech-backed financial groups as the campaign turned into a battleground for pro- and anti-AI groups to test their influence.

Much of the spending targeted candidate Alex Bores, a member of the state assembly who sponsored an AI safety bill and subsequently became a lightning rod for the tech industry. Pro-AI political action committees (Pacs) put more than $8m into the race to oppose Bores, according to Tech Influence Watch, while industry groups supporting regulation spent more than $16m to counter the attacks.

Bores ultimately wound up in second place, losing to Michael Lasher, who had the backing of NY-12’s outgoing representative, Jerry Nadler, and deeper ties to the Democratic party establishment. Despite the tech industry’s focus on Bores, Lasher also co-sponsored the same Raise Act AI safety bill, and similarly called for big tech to be reined in.

Exactly how the exorbitant amount of tech money shaped the race is hard to determine in a crowded primary that also included Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg, who finished a distant third, and former Republican turned anti-Trump influencer George Conway. What is clearer is that NY-12 shows how the AI industry is likely to descend upon campaigns this year, as November’s midterm elections approach, and tech-backed Super Pacs – committees that can raise and spend unlimited funds in favor or against candidates – amass hundreds of millions of dollars.

Many of the groups that spent money on Bores are well equipped to replicate their influence campaigns in other races. Leading the Future, which opposed Bores and is funded by OpenAI’s president, Greg Brockman, along with venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, has this year raised more than $75m. Public First Action, which is more supportive of AI regulation, meanwhile received more than $20m from Anthropic.

Individual tech moguls have also positioned themselves to be exceedingly influential, with Elon Musk funneling money into his America Pac, and California crypto billionaire Chris Larsen putting millions into the newly created You Can Push Back Super Pac. (Larsen put $3.5m into backing Bores.)

In NY-12, the most visible effect of this AI industry funding was a flood of often misleading attack ads that put tech, and the backlash to AI, at the center of the race. The Jobs and Democracy Pac bought an ad in support of Bores that ran as the front page of the New York Daily News, mimicking a genuine news page and drawing the ire of the newsroom’s union.

Several ads against Bores, backed by pro-tech funding, meanwhile framed him as a hypocrite due to his past work at the surveillance company Palantir.

“He’s got a master’s in computer science, but he’s an expert in hypocrisy,” one of Leading the Future’s ads declared. “He made hundreds of thousands of dollars building and selling the tech for ICE, enabling ICE, and powering their deportations while making bank”.

Bores, who claimed to have left Palantir over its work with ICE, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Pac and alleged it made false statements against him. Groups supporting Bores meanwhile argued the tactics may have also raised his profile and made the debate around AI regulation more prominent, even after their candidate’s defeat.

“Voters want leaders who stand up to big tech and who support commonsense safeguards,” former representative Brad Carson, the founder of the Jobs and Democracy PAC, which is funded by Public Action First, said in a statement.

Lasher’s victory speech also highlighted that while candidates may wind up courting tech donations, they also have to be careful of being seen as too close to an increasingly disliked industry.

“I have some news for the two big AI companies who’ve taken such an unusual interest in who won this congressional seat,” Lasher said. “I won’t be taking my cues from either of you when it comes to protecting our kids, our jobs, our environment.”