New York state Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation Dec. 19 designed to set safety rules for the most advanced AI models.
The Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Safety Education (RAISE) Act is notable for several reasons, not the least of which is timing as its approval comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bring AI under federal control rather than be subjected to what he considers “excessive state regulation.”
Almost immediately it was predicted that the states would mount a fight to resist the executive order. And first to pick up the challenge is New York, with Hochul greenlighting rules that were originally approved by state lawmakers in June.
Hochul explained: “The 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.”
California’s bill was passed earlier this year, before the Trump executive order was enacted.
Among the key requirements of the New York bill, which will be enforced starting Jan. 1 2027, is that any company with more than $500 million in revenue that develops an AI system must create and publish details of their safety protocols.
They must also report incidents to the state within 72 hours, while New York itself is creating an oversight office within the Department of Financial Services to assess developers. The department will issue annual reports.
Companies that fail to comply with the regulations could be fined up to $1 million for first-time offenses and up to $3 million for subsequent violations.
Hochul’s approval was granted after months of lobbying from tech companies, with reports that some measures — including banning companies from releasing models that do not pass safety tests — have fallen by the wayside. Steeper fines originally proposed have also been reduced.
Nevertheless, bill sponsor and New York assembly member Alex Bores declared himself satisfied with the outcome.
Bores said: ” In New York, 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.