Organizations with strong ties to the Left influenced AI policy in a deep red state
What's the administration thinking here?
As Utah emerged as the epicenter of an internal GOP conflict over AI regulation, two groups with considerable links to progressive politics were quietly stoking the flames.
In January, State Rep. Doug Fiefia (R-UT) introduced legislation that would require AI companies to promulgate public safety and child protection plans and report any issues concerning those topics to state authorities, threatening hefty fines if they fail to do so. This legislation provoked a stern rebuke from the White House, with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs calling the state’s HB 286 “an unfixable bill that goes against the Administration’s AI Agenda.”
While this internecine clash has received considerable coverage, the involvement of liberal outside groups in precipitating it has so far gone unreported.
Pushing state-level regulations
On Jan. 14, shortly before Fiefa introduced his legislation at the start of Utah’s legislative session, an organization called Encode AI cut a $10,000 check to his campaign. Fiefa, a freshman representative, is seeking to make the jump to Utah’s upper chamber in 2026.
After Fiefa introduced his legislation, Encode supported it vigorously.
“In Utah, we’ve worked with policymakers, organizations, and survivor parents on both sides of the aisle to help craft smart policy that protects against AI harms without standing in the way of innovation,” Encode co-executive director Adam Billen told the Washington Examiner.
Encode’s vice president of public policy issued a statement endorsing HB 286 after the group paid for polling that found broad support for the bill among Utah voters just days after it was introduced. Encode then used the polling data it paid for in a mass-texting campaign, which it also paid for, to argue that opposition to Fiefa’s AI safety bill constituted an attempt from “an unelected White House bureaucrat” to stifle the will of the people in Utah. Recipients of the text were urged to pressure their representatives to support the law.
The financial resources Encode uses to fund campaigns such as this have historically come from left-of-center grantmakers, and the organization itself is run by staffers with experience in progressive politics.
Encode is led by Stanford University student Sneha Revanur, who founded the organization in 2020. Revanur disclosed in 2023 that the group’s primary source of funding was the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic empire chaired by liberal billionaire Pierre Omidyar.
The flow of …
What's the administration thinking here?
As Utah emerged as the epicenter of an internal GOP conflict over AI regulation, two groups with considerable links to progressive politics were quietly stoking the flames.
In January, State Rep. Doug Fiefia (R-UT) introduced legislation that would require AI companies to promulgate public safety and child protection plans and report any issues concerning those topics to state authorities, threatening hefty fines if they fail to do so. This legislation provoked a stern rebuke from the White House, with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs calling the state’s HB 286 “an unfixable bill that goes against the Administration’s AI Agenda.”
While this internecine clash has received considerable coverage, the involvement of liberal outside groups in precipitating it has so far gone unreported.
Pushing state-level regulations
On Jan. 14, shortly before Fiefa introduced his legislation at the start of Utah’s legislative session, an organization called Encode AI cut a $10,000 check to his campaign. Fiefa, a freshman representative, is seeking to make the jump to Utah’s upper chamber in 2026.
After Fiefa introduced his legislation, Encode supported it vigorously.
“In Utah, we’ve worked with policymakers, organizations, and survivor parents on both sides of the aisle to help craft smart policy that protects against AI harms without standing in the way of innovation,” Encode co-executive director Adam Billen told the Washington Examiner.
Encode’s vice president of public policy issued a statement endorsing HB 286 after the group paid for polling that found broad support for the bill among Utah voters just days after it was introduced. Encode then used the polling data it paid for in a mass-texting campaign, which it also paid for, to argue that opposition to Fiefa’s AI safety bill constituted an attempt from “an unelected White House bureaucrat” to stifle the will of the people in Utah. Recipients of the text were urged to pressure their representatives to support the law.
The financial resources Encode uses to fund campaigns such as this have historically come from left-of-center grantmakers, and the organization itself is run by staffers with experience in progressive politics.
Encode is led by Stanford University student Sneha Revanur, who founded the organization in 2020. Revanur disclosed in 2023 that the group’s primary source of funding was the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic empire chaired by liberal billionaire Pierre Omidyar.
The flow of …
Organizations with strong ties to the Left influenced AI policy in a deep red state
What's the administration thinking here?
As Utah emerged as the epicenter of an internal GOP conflict over AI regulation, two groups with considerable links to progressive politics were quietly stoking the flames.
In January, State Rep. Doug Fiefia (R-UT) introduced legislation that would require AI companies to promulgate public safety and child protection plans and report any issues concerning those topics to state authorities, threatening hefty fines if they fail to do so. This legislation provoked a stern rebuke from the White House, with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs calling the state’s HB 286 “an unfixable bill that goes against the Administration’s AI Agenda.”
While this internecine clash has received considerable coverage, the involvement of liberal outside groups in precipitating it has so far gone unreported.
Pushing state-level regulations
On Jan. 14, shortly before Fiefa introduced his legislation at the start of Utah’s legislative session, an organization called Encode AI cut a $10,000 check to his campaign. Fiefa, a freshman representative, is seeking to make the jump to Utah’s upper chamber in 2026.
After Fiefa introduced his legislation, Encode supported it vigorously.
“In Utah, we’ve worked with policymakers, organizations, and survivor parents on both sides of the aisle to help craft smart policy that protects against AI harms without standing in the way of innovation,” Encode co-executive director Adam Billen told the Washington Examiner.
Encode’s vice president of public policy issued a statement endorsing HB 286 after the group paid for polling that found broad support for the bill among Utah voters just days after it was introduced. Encode then used the polling data it paid for in a mass-texting campaign, which it also paid for, to argue that opposition to Fiefa’s AI safety bill constituted an attempt from “an unelected White House bureaucrat” to stifle the will of the people in Utah. Recipients of the text were urged to pressure their representatives to support the law.
The financial resources Encode uses to fund campaigns such as this have historically come from left-of-center grantmakers, and the organization itself is run by staffers with experience in progressive politics.
Encode is led by Stanford University student Sneha Revanur, who founded the organization in 2020. Revanur disclosed in 2023 that the group’s primary source of funding was the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic empire chaired by liberal billionaire Pierre Omidyar.
The flow of …
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