N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul signs sweeping AI safety bill
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Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks to the press. Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the RAISE Act into law Friday, making New York the latest state to have broad safety rules for the most advanced AI models.
Why it matters: New York and California are setting de facto safety rules for frontier AI companies in the U.S. as Congress struggles to settle on federal standards.
- It comes a week after President Trump signed an executive order aiming to override state AI laws.
Driving the news: After negotiations, the RAISE Act regulates frontier AI safety with incident reporting requirements for both big and small models.
- It also requires risk assessment plans and puts in place financial penalties for violations (up to $1 million for the first violation and up to $3 million for subsequent violations).
- AI companies must report safety incidents to the state within 72 hours of determining one occurred.
- It also "creates a new oversight office within the Department of Financial Services to ensure AI frontier model transparency," per a release from Hochul's office.
What they're saying: "This law builds on California's recently adopted framework, creating a unified benchmark among the country's leading tech states as the federal government lags behind, failing to implement common-sense regulations that protect the public," Hochul said in the release, calling New York a leader in AI regulation.
- "Today is a major victory in what will soon be a national fight to harness the best of AI's potential and protect Americans from the worst of its harms," said state Assemblymember and bill sponsor Alex Bores in a statement.
Flashback: Prior to Hochul signing the bill, tech and AI lobbyists were able to negotiate changes so it more closely resembled California's SB 53, arguing that state bills should be uniform for industry certainty.
- But the bill sponsors secured some changes to strengthen requirements around reporting critical safety incidents in the final version.
Bores said in the release that negotiations this week among himself, Hochul and co-sponsor state Sen. Andrew Gounardes were successful.
- "We defeated last-ditch attempts from AI oligarchs to wipe out this bill and, by doing so, raised the floor for what AI safety legislation can look like.
- "And we defeated Trump's – and his donors – attempt to stop RAISE through executive action greenlighting a Wild West for AI."
