Key facts
- Chris Lehane is OpenAI's chief global affairs officer and its top lobbyist, per the report.
- The memo went to about half a dozen prospective 2028 candidates, some members of Congress and political operatives.
- Lehane warned Democrats could land on the wrong side of the AI debate by opposing needed infrastructure.
- Lehane wrote that losing the AI lead to China could be the 2028 version of the 2002 Iraq war vote.
- OpenAI declined to comment on the memo.
Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, circulated a memo to about half a dozen prospective 2028 presidential candidates, a few members of Congress and prominent political operatives, according to a person with knowledge of the memo granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. POLITICO obtained the memo, which it said had not previously been reported.
In the memo, Lehane argues that candidates need a governing philosophy for artificial intelligence rather than talking points on the issues dominating a campaign. He warns that Democrats in particular could find themselves on the wrong side of the debate if they oppose the infrastructure needed to build the technology, and writes that losing the AI lead to China "could well be the 2028 version of the 2002 vote to go to war in Iraq."
Lehane urges candidates to offer a middle course between unchecked AI development and putting control of the technology in the hands of a "self-appointed elite." He compares the period to the New Deal of 1932 and says the next president will have an opportunity to reimagine "the relationship between people and a transformative new force in their lives."
He writes that AI is already showing up in the 2026 election, with unpopular data centers serving as a proxy for affordability concerns, and that rapid technological progress is driving anxiety among an electorate who feel the social contract has been "fractured." He encourages candidates to address what the tax code should look like in the AI era, how children should be protected, whether AI can make life more affordable and whether the US can maintain its technological lead over China.
"A world in which America leads will look very different from one in which the Chinese Communist Party sets the pace," Lehane writes. "That doesn't mean every data center is a good project or that communities should accept higher electricity costs. It means policymakers must solve those problems rather than treating infrastructure itself as the problem."
OpenAI declined to comment. Lehane was press secretary to then Vice President Al Gore.