A group of current and former OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to Guardrails Alliance, a new super PAC campaigning for stricter regulation of advanced AI companies. The move puts some rank-and-file staff in direct political opposition to OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman, whose support for the pro-industry super PAC Leading the Future has caused unease inside the company. It matters because it highlights a widening split within OpenAI over how AI should be governed and how aggressively the industry should resist regulation.

Guardrails Alliance launched last month with $5 million in initial funding and aims to raise $15 million during this election cycle, while Leading the Future has backing of more than $100 million from tech figures, including a $50 million commitment from Brockman and his wife. Seven current OpenAI employees and one former employee have donated, with research engineer Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe contributing $200,000 and arguing that AI safety work needs enforceable rules to hold companies accountable. Guardrails Alliance says it does not need to match its rival financially, instead betting that public opinion already favours stronger oversight of AI and can be mobilised more cheaply in political campaigns.