OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane says the 2028 presidential election could be a pivotal moment for artificial intelligence, and is urging politicians to develop policies that address public concerns about the technology. His proposals cover worker protections, education, AI safety and data center development.
In a new essay, Lehane compares AI’s potential economic impact with the changes that prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. He argues that Americans worried about losing control of their economic futures need a “compelling third path” that lets them benefit from AI.
The proposals include incentives for workers to build AI skills, improved access to capital for entrepreneurs, and new approaches to employee ownership and profit-sharing. Lehane also calls for age-appropriate protections for children, AI safety standards, independent evaluations and public oversight. He says people should retain control over consequential decisions made with AI, and that authorities should be able to restrict systems or shut them down.
Kate Brennan, who leads AI and corporate power policy at the AI Now Institute, told TechCrunch that Lehane’s agenda differs from OpenAI’s earlier emphasis on accelerating AI development, easing regulation and expanding infrastructure. She argued that the essay offers few binding measures to ensure workers share in AI-generated wealth or that companies bear the costs of job displacement.
Brennan also questioned the comparison with the New Deal, which introduced worker protections and constraints on corporate power. She said the proposals instead assume broad AI adoption and focus on its potential benefits. Among alternatives she suggested were changes to corporate taxes, incentives to hire people rather than automate jobs, and steps to limit excessive market power.
Data centers are another point of tension. Lehane acknowledges concerns about them while highlighting construction jobs and local tax revenue. He also warns that a moratorium could put the United States’ position relative to China at risk. Opposition to data center projects emerged as a bipartisan concern in several midterm races, according to the article.
On education, Lehane argues against excluding AI from classrooms, warning that doing so could widen disparities between wealthy students and children in rural communities. Critics, however, question whether AI has been shown to improve learning. His safety proposals have also drawn scrutiny: Brennan cited OpenAI’s opposition to California’s SB 1047 in 2024, a bill that would have required catastrophic-risk evaluations and shutdown capabilities. The article notes that OpenAI has since backed some state safety laws and said it would consider independent evaluators working within the company.
Lehane’s essay presents AI as a source of economic opportunity, but the extent to which his proposals would distribute those gains more broadly remains unclear. TechCrunch reported that OpenAI did not respond to its request for further details before publication.
Sources: TechCrunch.