Her new position with OpenAI betrays Dems’ anti-corruption midterm message
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Hauser, hauser(at)therevolvingdoorproject.org
In response to reporting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s daughter, Jessica Schumer has taken a new job with OpenAI, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser released the following statement
“A few things are clear to anyone who pays close attention to politics: the Republicans and Big Tech oligarchs are in an increasingly deep and committed relationship, the AI industry is incredibly unpopular, and the scope of the Trump family’s corruption is unprecedented. And yet it is also clear that the Democratic Party, while positioned to do well in the midterms, is still viewed skeptically by most of the public.
Democrats cannot take full advantage of the opportunity Trump’s dismal standing represents for them unless they stand firmly opposed to corruption —which includes convincing voters that they are a party in which politicians’ kids have nothing in common with Don Jr. or Eric Trump. Sadly, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand are making what should be an easy case difficult.
Leader Schumer’s daughter Jessica has long worked in Big Tech, but recent reports that she took a job with OpenAI to help secure taxpayer dollars for arguably the most politically controversial firm in the world are incredibly disturbing. Senator Gillibrand’s 22 year old son Theodore has arguably raised even more questions, receiving a $30 million investment for a company seeking to make real finance more like the crypto “industry” just days after his graduation from undergrad.
More than one year ago we at Revolving Door Project published an article with a straight forward headline that appears to have been prescient: “Democrats Must Oppose the AI Industry.” The veracity of our argument has been reinforced with nearly every poll released since then—but Senate Democrats are squandering this potentially generational-realigning moment to define themselves as the AI skeptical party. Instead, they are being led by New Yorkers whose families are seemingly more excited by the prospect of securing multigenerational wealth than winning an election.
America deserves vastly better than the Trump family–but the bar for New Yorkers seeking to displace Donald Trump and his cronies from power should not be merely that the bags that they secured for their family are smaller than the Trump family’s indefensible fortune. The only thing less popular than the AI industry getting taxpayer subsidies to increase your electricity bill is when they hire a political leader’s kid to help them secure even more handouts.”
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