N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes major changes to AI bill
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has proposed significant changes to an AI bill that would mandate transparency measures from frontier AI companies, per sources who have reviewed them.
Why it matters: States are increasingly the venue of intense tech lobbying as they get more active on regulating AI, at the same time that President Trump pushes ahead with plans to stop them with an executive order.
- According to the sources who have reviewed the document, the original RAISE Act has been crossed out, with replacement text that nearly verbatim resembles a California AI safety bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed this year, SB 53.
Driving the news: Hochul this week "redlined" the RAISE Act, an AI safety bill from New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Alex Bores that was written to require incident reporting and safety plans for powerful AI models.
The big picture: The debate has received national attention as pro-AI groups go after Bores, who is pushing for Hochul to sign the bill and is running for former Rep. Jerry Nadler's (D-N.Y.) seat in Congress.
- This week, pro-AI PAC Leading the Future started running ads going after Bores in his district NY-12, saying the RAISE Act would "fail to keep people safe" and "crush jobs."
- AI companies and startups have been urging major changes to the RAISE Act and suggesting it more closely mirror SB 53.
California's AI law that Hochul is looking to adopt requires large AI developers to make public disclosures about safety protocols and report safety incidents.
- It also creates whistleblower protections and expands cloud computing access for smaller developers and researchers.
What's inside: Per a person familiar with the negotiations, the RAISE Act no longer includes:
- A requirement for detailed safety standards from AI companies that reasonably reduce the risk of harm.
- A ban on releasing models that pose an unreasonable risk of harm.
- A requirement to report security incidents; along with requirements that would apply to future models of foreign AI models like DeepSeek.
The bill also has a weakened catastrophic risk disclosure component, the person said.
"In the absence of federal leadership on responsible AI, New York is leading with common-sense laws to protect children, families, and consumers and our approach should be a model for the nation," Hochul spokesperson Kristin Devoe said in an email to Axios.
- "Governor Hochul has been at the forefront of the innovation economy and remains committed to advancing AI responsibly as she reviews the legislation."
- The news was first reported in Transformer.
What's next: Hochul has 10 days (not counting Sunday) from the time she is delivered bills to sign, veto or agree to "chapter amendments" with bill sponsors.
- That 10-day clock started when Hochul redlined the bill and sent it back to the legislature on Tuesday, per the source familiar with the negotiations.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Hochul's office.
