Colorado's eighth congressional district Democratic primary has become an unlikely battleground in Silicon Valley's ideological fight over artificial intelligence regulation, with millions in tech donations flooding into one candidate's campaign as the state votes Tuesday.
Manny Rutinel, a progressive Democrat and state representative, has hauled in at least $2 million from political committees controlled by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen. The spending has transformed his race against centrist challenger Shannon Bird into one of Colorado's most expensive House contests, surpassing other district and Senate races on the ballot.
The divide reflects a deeper schism among wealthy tech figures. While Rutinel has largely stayed silent on AI policy, he previously backed two state bills aimed at regulating the technology when serving in the legislature. Bird, by contrast, opposed AI regulation, arguing it would hamper innovation.
Schmidt and his wife donated $2 million to Somos Pac, a Super PAC focused on Latino voter outreach, which then funneled $1.3 million to Rutinel's campaign. Larsen's independently funded Super PAC, You Can Push Back, contributed nearly $1 million directly to the candidate. Additional money came from rank-and-file employees at major AI and tech companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta. Workers from Anthropic led the individual donor push, with 57 employees giving nearly $162,000 combined, part of over $265,000 in tech worker donations overall.
Rutinel's candidacy highlights a broader pattern emerging across the country. Tech donors have split into competing camps, with one faction backing candidates perceived as friendly to minimal AI oversight while the other backs those pushing stronger restrictions. A similar dynamic played out last week in a New York congressional primary, where pro- and anti-AI groups spent a combined $24 million on opposing sides of a race involving Democrat Alex Bores, who authored an AI safety bill. Comparable battles occurred during primaries in North Carolina and California.
The Colorado race centers on a candidate whose political identity rests primarily on Latino advocacy, affordability issues, and immigration enforcement reform. Rutinel has not made artificial intelligence a focal point of his public messaging. Yet his legislative record on the issue appears to have made him attractive to the portion of tech wealth that views AI regulation as necessary.
Rutinel's campaign declined to comment on the influx of outside money or its implications for his policy positions going forward.
Author James Rodriguez: "When billionaires and corporate employees are willing to dump millions into a local House race, it tells you everything about how central AI regulation has become to Silicon Valley's political calculus."
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