New York Governor Cathy Hochul signed a bill on December 19th aimed at establishing safety rules for cutting-edge AI models.
The Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Safety Education (RAISE) Act is notable for several reasons, not least its timing: it was approved just days after President Donald Trump signed the following executive order: Bring AI under federal control rather than being subject to what he considers “excessive state regulation.”
it almost immediately was predicted States will begin a fight to resist the executive order. And New York state was the first to face this challenge, with Hochul’s green light rule originally approved by the state Legislature in June.
“This legislation builds on California’s recently adopted framework, which creates uniform standards among the nation’s leading technology states at a time when the federal government has lagged behind and failed to put in place common-sense regulations that protect the public,” Hochul said.
California’s bill was passed earlier this year, before Trump’s executive order was enacted.
Among the key requirements of the New York state bill, which goes into effect on January 1, 2027, is that companies with more than $500 million in revenue that develop AI systems must develop and publish details of their safety protocols.
Incidents must also be reported to the state within 72 hours, and New York City itself has set up an oversight office within the Department of Financial Services to evaluate developers. The Ministry publishes an annual report.
Companies that fail to comply with the regulations could be fined up to $1 million for a first violation and up to $3 million for subsequent violations.
Hochul’s approval came after months of lobbying from technology companies. report Some measures have stalled, such as banning companies from selling models that do not pass safety tests. The steeper fines originally proposed were also reduced.
Nevertheless, the bill’s sponsor, New York Congressman Alex Boaz, declared himself satisfied with the outcome.
“In New York, we defeated the AI oligarchy’s last-ditch attempt to sweep this bill, and in doing so raised the floor on what an AI security law could be. And we defeated President Trump and his donors’ attempts to block RAISE through executive action to greenlight the AI frontier,” Boas said.
