The big tech company hopes the release of the White House plan to develop artificial intelligence in the US will prompt state leaders to think twice about implementing the proposed industry regulations in New York.
President Donald Trump’s administration issued a blueprint on Wednesday, building up American AI infrastructure and ensuring the country remains a leader in developing industries. The guidelines could affect state decisions to implement their own policies, but they are not without pushbacks from companies benefiting from emerging technologies.
“To win this Super Bowl for this AI against China, you’ll need to work from one playbook,” said Doug Kelly, CEO of American Edge Project, advocating for US technology development,” President Trump has laid out a pretty good playbook about this, but if you have 50 different national-based playbooks, you won’t get it all.
Trump has announced three executive orders in the AI Action Plan to accelerate federal approval of data centers and energy infrastructure. The president’s plans focus on industrial innovation and shift away from regulations.
“We don’t have enough power from all sources in this country. If we don’t have enough power at the end of the day, we can’t win this race,” Kelly explained.
Congress considered a 10-year moratorium banning AI regulation as federal policymakers discussed the latest spending bill earlier this month, but it wasn’t included in the final act.
State lawmakers have passed a small number of bills to regulate the session, and hold large AI companies responsible for potential public safety risks, including labelling deepfake images and videos used in advertising.
Large tech companies are expected to increase their efforts towards New York, keeping them out of the way and leaving regulations to the federal government.
Gov. Kathy Hochul must sign, amend or reject the action by the end of the year. It is unclear how the new federal guidelines will affect her decision.
“If the governor actually put together a working group, if you see this, it’s good if there are private and public sector experts… industry experts and researchers are researchers as well.”
Wilcox argues that multiple policies could hit innovative tech companies big and small.
He cited a recent Brookings report showing that upstate cities like Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are ideal regions for AI development, saying regulations imposed at the state level could hinder economic opportunity upstates.
“AI is likely to be a transformative force for both our economy and society,” Wilcox said. “Like general-purpose technology, the best regions to develop and adopt it can see the greatest advantages. In that respect, upstate New York is uniquely positioned… The economic potential across research, data centers, engineering and programming jobs will focus on areas that are ready to lead to innovation and deployment.”
High-tech companies are opposed to pointing to Hochul’s desks to expose safety protocols to large AI companies and requiring AI models to be disclosed when they act dangerously. Responsible AI Safety and Education, or the Raise Act, takes developers accountable for potential public safety threats and prevents the use of AI to create a biological age.
Sponsored MP Alex Boerz said the measure would not delay innovation and that businesses would need one employee to monitor safety plans and dangerous incidents.
“Wanting these companies to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and get one person to think about safety doesn’t slow innovation,” Boers said.
Boa, a Manhattan Democrat, said she was encouraged by the White House plans. It details the need for industry transparency, interpretability research and biosecurity.
“I think this plan is a notable move to ensure that safety is concerned and that this is done the right way, but what I think it shows is that there is still a shortage of AI leadership at the federal level and that Governor Hochul could take a strong stance and become a place where many of these standards are set,” he said. “There is one state that has pasolized the Frontier Model bill that is currently pending its executive signature. It is in New York. I encourage the governor to… act on this, set standards and lead New York.”
The councillor said he is in conversation with Hochul staff and hopes that after several companies have recommended them in the European AI practice code, they can modify the policy to add provisions requiring annual third-party audits.
Hochul has not publicly discussed her thoughts on the laws that go to her desk until she makes a decision. She will likely review the law and make a decision at the end of the year.
