Tom Steyer’s Anti-tech Crusade Has A Potential Hiccup: His Brother

SACRAMENTO, California — Tom Steyer, the billionaire former hedge fund manager, is Silicon Valley’s most outspoken critic in the race for California governor, backing a tax on the ultrarich that has already stirred fears of an exodus, bashing his opponents for accepting industry money and pledging to impose a separate tax on AI.

That makes Steyer a potentially pivotal figure in a post-Gavin Newsom California, where the next governor could redefine how the world’s most influential tech hub approaches AI regulation, taxation and the concentration of corporate power.

Beyond the campaign rhetoric, though, industry watchdogs are questioning how Steyer would actually govern Silicon Valley. The billionaire’s own orbit is entwined with the world he is vowing to police — including through a tight family connection that they worry could influence his approach to regulating tech.

Tom Steyer, 68, has long been close with his older brother Jim Steyer, who has enduring ties with top Democrats and, for more than 20 years, has run a leading nonprofit that advocates for kids’ online safety. Jim’s group, Common Sense Media, portrays itself as a check on industry. It’s a leading arbiter of digital content safety ratings and has tried more recently to expand that work to AI, while also backing dozens of California bills that expanded online protections for kids.

But Common Sense also regularly partners with industry giants and takes donations from family foundations associated with tech titans. While the brothers contend that they manage their personal relationship separately from their professional duties — and Common Sense says its donors don’t sway its advocacy work — those industry ties are becoming a source of concern in policy circles in Sacramento, according to interviews with nearly a dozen advocates and political professionals, many of whom were granted anonymity to describe private conversations.

“Obviously, family members have a lot of access to other people in their family. I think that’s the concern,” said Tracy Rosenberg, policy head of the nonprofit Oakland Privacy. “Will privacy advocates who may look at things somewhat differently than Jim Steyer have anywhere near the same kind of access?”

Steyer’s campaign confirmed to POLITICO that Jim Steyer does not have a role in the gubernatorial run.

For Tom Steyer, the concerns from some watchdogs add to the challenges he faces in the final sprint to the June 2 primary. Despite claiming labor endorsements, courting California’s left and leveraging his vast riches to outspend his rivals, he’s trailing fellow Democrat and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in most polls.

Whichever Democrat wins out is almost certain to become the state’s next leader. And given California’s record as a tech regulation trendsetter, the next governor’s approach to AI rules may help shape how the technology is governed worldwide, with massive potential implications for jobs and the economy.

That’s part of why Silicon Valley and its skeptics are watching the California governor’s race so closely — and why, to many advocates, it’s worth scrutinizing Tom and Jim Steyer’s relationship.

Tom Steyer, speaking to reporters after a gubernatorial debate last week, spurned the idea that his older brother would shape his decision-making.

“I don’t think it is a conflict of interest for him to try and do his job, and for me to try and do my job,” he said. “My brother’s protected kids for 50 years, and I’ve listened to him. But it’s not like he’s suddenly going to become me.”

As governor, he said he wouldn’t “slavishly follow what my brother says” — while also conceding that he trusts Jim Steyer’s expertise, calling the Common Sense leader “the leading children’s safety advocate in California.”

In his AI policy plan first reported by POLITICO in March, Tom Steyer wrote that he “helped my brother Jim Steyer found and build Common Sense Media.” He and his wife, Kat Taylor, have also contributed more than $5 million to Jim’s nonprofit since the early 2000s, according to annual reports, and donated as recently as 2023.

A campaign spokesperson refused to say whether the billionaire would cease donating to his brother’s nonprofit while he’s seated as governor.

Common Sense, meanwhile, maintains that it operates independently and that its policy work is managed separately from tech industry partnerships.

“Jim strongly supports his brother in his personal capacity. Common Sense Media does not get involved in electoral politics,” a spokesperson for the nonprofit said in a statement. “For more than 20 years, Common Sense Media has raised funds from thousands of individuals and philanthropic institutes to support its work to protect kids and families and schools in the digital age. Those funders have no influence on our work and never have.”

Common Sense often weighs in on legislation and regulations, nearly always to support or sponsor policies that seek to expand youth online safety guardrails. Just this year, the nonprofit teamed up with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on a youth chatbot safety ballot initiative, and Jim Steyer asked AI giants to contribute tens of millions of dollars for a new institute that would vet AI tools for kids, an effort that launched with an initial $20 million from the likes of Anthropic and the OpenAI Foundation.

Some of the advocates and political professionals interviewed said Jim Steyer sometimes invokes his connections to tech industry figures in debates over policies related to Common Sense’s work. One person familiar with Jim Steyer’s tactics in the context of those debates said he has “openly bragged” about his ability to call up industry figures like Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. (Benioff and his wife Lynne are among the nonprofit’s top lifetime donors, as are Tom Steyer and Taylor. Both Brin and Benioff did not respond to requests for comment.)

The connection to a man now on the cusp of power is one that Jim Steyer at times mentions, the person with knowledge of the older Steyer’s policy conversations said. “He will implicate his brother’s wealth,” telling legislators and staff at times that his brother cares about or is engaged on an issue he is working on, the person said.

Asked about Jim Steyer’s tactics in policy debates, a Common Sense spokesperson said: “When it comes to holding the tech industry accountable, Common Sense Media’s two decade record of accomplishments speaks for itself.”

Both Tom and Jim Steyer also have long-running relationships with OpenAI global policy director Chris Lehane. Lehane and Jim Steyer spoke about their connection when announcing the ballot partnership, while Lehane has been involved in Tom Steyer’s business work and, at times, acted as his spokesperson. (OpenAI declined a request to interview Lehane).

A spokesperson for Tom Steyer confirmed to POLITICO that Lehane is not involved in the billionaire’s gubernatorial campaign.

Tom Steyer, who is self-funding his campaign, accumulated immense wealth as founder of hedge fund Farallon Capital Management, and a recent New York Times report found he still holds investments in the firm. Other Democratic candidates in the race, like San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, have criticized his past investments in prisons and fossil fuels. (Steyer now says the prison investments were a “mistake,” and he told the Times that he has asked Farallon to separate his funds from its investments in fossil fuels.)

Steyer’s campaign has received an endorsement from the AI safety nonprofit Secure AI, which called him “California’s best hope for making sure AI benefits the public.”

Tom Steyer’s dilemma isn’t a new one for California politicians. Plenty of powerful state leaders have had to navigate relationships with family members who engaged in advocacy during their time in office.

For example, a feminist nonprofit founded by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom came under scrutiny during Newsom’s first term for accepting donations from major companies that also lobbied the Democratic governor’s office. (Newsom at the time said he saw no conflicts between the donations and his role as governor.) And there are numerous political dynasties — the Bontas, the Browns and the Rivas brothers, to name a few — where family members have simultaneously held powerful positions in government or with interest groups.

But Garry South, a longtime Democratic political consultant based in California, said the Steyer brothers face a unique challenge because of Tom Steyer’s vast wealth and his past contributions to Common Sense.

“Any wealthy businessperson who becomes an elected official,” South said, has to “go back and do a complete reassessment of their previous contributions.” If Steyer donates to his brother’s nonprofit as governor, South said it could "absolutely" be “viewed as [a] potential conflict” of interest, given that legislation Common Sense advocates on often ends up on the governor’s desk.

Steyer campaign spokesperson Kevin Liao told POLITICO that “Tom is committed to resolving all conflicts as governor.”

Another complicating factor is that, while Tom Steyer has railed against Silicon Valley elites on the campaign trail, Jim Steyer’s Common Sense has partnered with the tech industry on safety initiatives, at times instead of other kids’ safety groups.

The group’s collaboration with OpenAI on the proposed chatbot safety ballot initiative alarmed some youth safety advocates and sparked tense, behind-the-scenes debates among Common Sense allies about whether Jim Steyer’s organization can be trusted to take the lead on online safety campaigns. Jim Steyer has defended the partnership as a collaboration to “enact the strongest [AI] protections in the country for kids, teens and families.”

Common Sense and OpenAI paused their proposed initiative after advocates met with Common Sense’s head of AI Bruce Reed, formerly a top Biden White House official, about the attempt to put the initiative to California voters this year.

“After everything that happened with OpenAI, a lot of advocates are wary of working with them,” one advocate, who like others was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said, referring to Common Sense.

In 2023, Common Sense received contributions from OpenAI’s Lehane and his wife, Andrea Evans, one of many tech-affiliated interests that have donated to the organization.

Common Sense’s industry ties extend beyond OpenAI. In 2024 alone, Common Sense Media indicated in an annual report that it received support from the Bezos Family Foundation, the Spiegel Family Fund, Amazon Web Services and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Further, plaintiffs’-side documents from an ongoing major social media addiction court case state that Common Sense has partnered with YouTube and TikTok on kids’ online safety education initiatives. Another court document suggests Common Sense once proposed a “digital citizenship” partnership that would promote Facebook’s brand alongside online safety resources. Common Sense is not a party in the litigation.

Jack Malon, a spokesman for Google, which owns YouTube, said in an email the company has worked with Common Sense to give teachers more oversight of kids using YouTube in classrooms. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.

Asked about the partnerships, a Common Sense Media spokesperson said in a statement that “Common Sense Media’s ratings, advocacy, and research are independent and are never influenced by partners or funders in any way.”

The group chooses its partners carefully, the spokesperson said. “We maintain a strict firewall between our partnerships and editorial process. Kids are always at the center of every decision we make, and we are deeply committed to championing what is right for their safety and well-being. That never changes.”