OpenAI is facing a mounting public relations crisis as negative sentiment toward artificial intelligence grows, prompting the company to hire a seasoned political operative to reshape how the world views the technology. Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief of global affairs, is tasked with convincing the public to embrace AI while simultaneously persuading lawmakers to adopt regulations that won't slow the company's growth.

Why Is OpenAI's Reputation in Trouble?

The backlash against AI has intensified dramatically in recent months. College commencement speakers are now being booed for discussing AI optimistically, and in an extreme incident, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's San Francisco home while leaving a manifesto advocating for crimes against AI executives. Despite ChatGPT's popularity, an increasingly large share of the population views AI negatively, according to Greg Brockman, OpenAI's cofounder.

This reputation crisis threatens OpenAI more than any other company in the space. The company has previously contributed to polarizing narratives about AI's future. Sam Altman warned last year that "whole classes of jobs" will disappear when artificial general intelligence (AGI), or AI systems matching human-level intelligence across all domains, arrives. More recently, he has softened his messaging, declaring that "jobs doomerism is likely long-term wrong".

Sam Altman

What Is Lehane's Strategy for Rebuilding Trust?

Lehane, who earned the nickname "master of disaster" during his time managing crisis communications in Bill Clinton's White House, brings decades of experience navigating regulatory challenges. He previously helped Airbnb defend itself against regulators in cities skeptical of short-term home rentals and played a key role in establishing Fairshake, a crypto industry super PAC that worked to legitimize digital currencies in Washington.

His approach centers on moving away from what he calls "artificially binary" narratives about AI. On one extreme is the utopian "Bob Ross view of the world" where nobody has to work and everyone lives painting watercolors by the beach. On the other is a dystopian scenario where only a small elite controls all-powerful AI. Lehane believes neither is realistic.

"When I was in the White House, we always used to talk about how good policy equals good politics. You have to think about both of these things moving in concert," said Lehane.

Chris Lehane, Chief of Global Affairs at OpenAI

Instead, Lehane wants OpenAI to convey a more "calibrated" message about AI's promises while offering concrete solutions to public concerns. He argues that if OpenAI is going to claim AI poses challenges, the company has an obligation to propose ideas for solving them.

How Is OpenAI Proposing to Address Public Concerns?

OpenAI recently published a list of policy proposals aimed at addressing the concerns people worry about most, including potential widespread job loss and negative impacts of chatbots on children. These proposals include:

• Work Week Reform: Creating a four-day work week to address job displacement concerns
• Healthcare Expansion: Expanding access to health care as AI adoption accelerates
• AI Labor Tax: Passing a tax on AI-powered labor to fund social programs

However, some former OpenAI employees have accused the company of downplaying AI's potential downsides. Members of OpenAI's economic research unit quit after becoming concerned that the unit was morphing into an advocacy arm for the company rather than an independent research group. These former employees argued that their warnings about AI's economic impacts, though inconvenient for OpenAI, honestly reflected what the company's research actually found.

What Role Is OpenAI Playing in Political Influence?

Beyond public messaging, OpenAI is actively shaping the political landscape around AI regulation. Lehane helped establish Leading the Future, one of the largest pro-AI super PACs, which launched last summer with more than $100 million in funding commitments from tech industry figures, including Greg Brockman.

The super PAC has opposed Alex Bores, the author of New York's strongest AI safety law who is running for Congress in the state's 12th district. Brockman previously told WIRED that his political donations to Leading the Future and to President Trump's Super PAC were inspired by OpenAI's mission to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity, though he made the donations in a personal capacity.

Lehane says he consulted Brockman on his recent political spending only in "a very general way" and that he is currently "not involved" in the day-to-day operations of Leading the Future. OpenAI has repeatedly tried to clarify, including in internal blog posts directed at employees, that it does not directly fund any super PACs.

How Is OpenAI Approaching State-Level AI Regulation?

In the absence of meaningful federal AI legislation, OpenAI is pursuing what Lehane calls "reverse federalism," lobbying states to pass AI laws that essentially mirror one another. The goal is to "harmonize" new bills with legislation already on the books in California and New York and prevent lawmakers from creating a patchwork of different rules across the country, which Lehane argues would derail innovation.

However, OpenAI's regulatory strategy has drawn criticism. The company recently supported a bill in Illinois that would let AI labs dodge liability if their models caused catastrophic harm, so long as the companies published safety frameworks on a public website. When the bill first attracted attention, its sponsor said it was "an initiative of OpenAI." After widespread criticism, including from the governor of Illinois, OpenAI claimed it had never supported the liability safe harbor provision.

"I don't think we were explicit at all on what we were definitely for and what we were not supporting. That was on us," said Lehane.

Chris Lehane, Chief of Global Affairs at OpenAI

When asked if OpenAI was involved in drafting the bill, Lehane said the company "certainly shared our thoughts," though he claimed OpenAI simply wanted to advocate for similar AI laws to those in California and New York.

Lehane

More recently, OpenAI has come out in support of a different Illinois bill that would be one of the strongest AI laws in the nation, requiring leading AI companies to have their safety practices audited by outside third parties. The legislation has also been endorsed by OpenAI's biggest rival, Anthropic, and it passed through the Illinois Senate.

Lehane's dual mission reflects a fundamental tension: OpenAI must convince the public that AI is beneficial while simultaneously ensuring that regulations don't constrain the company's growth. Whether his approach succeeds in rebuilding public trust while advancing OpenAI's interests remains to be seen.