The previously undisclosed board of an ascendant DC think tank pushing Democrats to the center includes a Democratic Party megadonor with a stake in artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia, which could benefit from the organization’s efforts to defend data center build-outs and limit AI regulation.
The Lever exclusively reports that philanthropist Simone Coxe — whose multibillion-dollar fortune largely comes from her venture capitalist husband’s investments in Nvidia — sits on the board of the Searchlight Institute, a new center-left DC think tank. Nvidia is heavily invested in data center expansion.
Coxe, also the cofounder of and director at California news organization CalMatters and a prolific Democratic donor, is listed as a director of the Searchlight Institute in the organization’s DC incorporation documents. The think tank has not disclosed its association with Coxe or her husband, Tench Coxe.
Searchlight’s board of directors has not been previously reported. It includes other rich and powerful investors with a stake in the AI build-out, such as billionaire hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel. Mandel’s investment firm Lone Pine Capital is heavily invested in the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the largest manufacturer of chips designed by Nvidia.
The Searchlight Institute, a project of several longtime Democratic political operatives, launched last fall. The group pitched itself as the leader of a new realignment in the Democratic Party, emphasizing “moderation” over progressivism, which Searchlight claims lost the party in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections.
In January, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escalated its assault in Minneapolis and across the United States, Searchlight disseminated a memo urging Democrats not to say “abolish ICE.” The group has also voiced opposition to expansive housing reform legislation that passed the Senate last month with Democratic support, parroting…
Auteur: Katya Schwenk
