The conservative AI policy organization Alliance for a Better Future argues in a post-midterms memo that artificial intelligence policy played a significant role in delivering Democratic majorities and that Republicans need a major recalibration on AI before the 2028 presidential election.
The group is led by former Virginia Republican official Janet Kelly. Its advisory council includes organizations such as the Heritage Foundation. The memo, which was first shared with Semafor, states: “it’s impossible to ignore the strong impact Super Intelligence policy had on this election and how connected it is to economic concerns in particular. … If Republicans recalibrate correctly, [AI] can be an asset in 2028 for both our country and our party.”
According to the document, liberal efforts successfully tied economic anxieties to anti‑elite populist sentiment around AI, a linkage the memo describes as a “deadly one-two punch.” Those concerns pushed AI rapidly “up the issue grid,” the memo says, moving the topic into voter priorities while many Republicans missed the shift. The group also faults GOP candidates and their allies for failing to counter Democratic messaging that associated them with a pro‑AI and data‑center agenda.
Alliance for a Better Future warns that fully embracing Donald Trump’s light-touch AI regulatory approach would be a mistake for future Republican candidates. “It would be political malpractice for Republicans not to course correct their SI policy positions and risk permanently ceding this issue to Democrats,” the memo reads. The organization is pushing for stronger AI guardrails than those advanced so far by the administration.
The memo sets out several concrete recommendations. Key proposals include:
- passing laws addressing chatbots and children’s safety;
- codifying Donald Trump’s voluntary AI accord into statute;
- adopting economic policies that support workers affected by AI disruption;
- urging companies to prioritize applications such as disease cures rather than experiments that ‘‘only benefit the developers themselves.’’
In sum, the memo urges Republicans to adjust their AI positions in time or risk permanently ceding this policy area to Democrats, framing the post‑midterms experience as evidence of AI’s electoral importance.
