Governor Kathy Hochul announces next steps to advance New York’s nation-leading AI safety law, the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act.
Artificial Intelligence developers will be required to register with New York State and follow strict guidelines come November.
AI safety law, the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, will require large frontier AI developers to:
- Establish safety and transparency frameworks, which must be published on the developer’s website;
- Report critical safety incidents to the state’s new Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity and Trust (DIGIT) within 72 hours and, as required, to other government authorities;
- File quarterly assessments of catastrophic risks to the DIGIT Office, which may transmit them to other government authorities; and
- Register with DIGIT, file a disclosure statement at least every other year, starting January 1, 2027, and pay assessments.
The RAISE Act also permits the public to file suspected critical safety incident reports with the DIGIT Office which may transmit them to other governmental authorities as appropriate. The DIGIT Office will also produce an annual public report summarizing incident reports received, observations about frontier model safety, and any recommended changes to the RAISE Act.
Governor Kathy Hochul said that in the coming months, she will be exploring ways to build on the RAISE Act as part of ongoing efforts to further strengthen New York’s nation-leading AI safety laws and regulations.
Immediately after signing the RAISE Act into law, Hochul convened an all-of-government effort to swiftly and effectively implement the RAISE Act, including DFS, the Office of Information Technology Services, and the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. On Monday she announced the appointment of Marc Gilman as New York’s Deputy Director for the RAISE Act. In this role, he will support New York’s ongoing implementation of that law. Gilman is the first full-time hire of the Governor’s new Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity and Trust (DIGIT), announced in her State of the State earlier this year. In addition to DFS staff with expertise in technology regulation, cybersecurity, and AI already working on this implementation, additional full-time staff will be joining the DIGIT office in the coming weeks and months.
Hochul said these actions are coming as the Trump Administration, quote, “…continues to ignore the issue of AI safety,” “When people building the world’s most powerful AI systems, they are sounding the alarm, you’d think the President might want to respond with action, but don’t hold your breath. Donald Trump says ‘one high IQ President can manage the biggest technological revolution since the advent of the internet.’
Congress, Republican leaders in Congress, felt so assured by this, they left town early.”
Hochul added that leaders who refuse to take AI regulation seriously is, “… an abdication of responsibility of epic proportions.”
As the UN General Assembly convenes in New York this week, Hochul is continuing to call on federal and world leaders to take action on AI safety.
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