OpenAI Wants AI to Be a Big Issue in the 2028 Election

OpenAI is already trying to steer the conversation for the 2028 presidential election. Chris Lehane, the company's chief global affairs officer, published an essay arguing that AI could define the race. He wants politicians to build real policies around Americans' worries about the technology, not just nod at the backlash.

What OpenAI is proposing

Lehane compares AI's potential to reshape the economy to the New Deal, the 1930s federal programs that followed industrialization and the Great Depression. He says Americans feel similarly anxious about losing control of their economic futures. He asks for a "compelling third path" that lets people share in AI's benefits. Among his ideas:

• Tax incentives for workers to learn AI skills and easier access to money for entrepreneurs
• New approaches to employee ownership and profit-sharing
• Age-appropriate protections and safeguards around AI companions for minors
• Enforceable safety standards, independent evaluations and the ability to shut systems down
• Building data centers, citing construction jobs and local tax revenue

Why critics push back

Kate Brennan of the AI Now Institute says the essay is written by a company advocating for its own benefit. She notes the original New Deal protected workers and limited corporate power. Lehane's ideas, she says, mostly assume AI will help society, which has not been shown yet. Many of them would also spread AI use and support the building that companies like OpenAI need.

Brennan would rather see a revised corporate tax rate, incentives to hire people instead of automating jobs, and limits on companies gaining outsized market power. She also calls Lehane's safety stances "disingenuous." In 2024, OpenAI opposed California's SB 1047, which would have required shutdown abilities. The company has since backed several state safety laws.

Why voters may care

The essay arrives after Democrats flipped control of Congress in the midterms, amid frustration over the cost of living. AI was not a dominant midterm issue. But opposition to data centers became a bipartisan concern in several races. Lehane warns that a pause on data center building could cost the U.S. its lead over China. He compares that stance to the 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war.

Voters may also link AI to bills and paychecks. Worries include data centers raising electricity costs, AI replacing jobs, and the gains going to a few wealthy companies.

What happens next

Lehane may be right that AI becomes a bigger part of the national debate over the next two years. What is not known is which candidates will pick up his ideas, or whether any of them would become binding rules. Expect tech companies and critics to keep arguing over who pays for AI's disruption.