The RAISE Act, which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Friday, comes amidst a challenging time for AI policymaking at the state level, as a new executive order attempts to limit states’ regulatory authority. If states do not comply, they are at risk of losing congressionally approved funding for broadband. In any case, state lawmakers continue to advance legislation.
New York’s newly signed law, formally known as the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, does several things to support AI safety and transparency.
First, it requires large AI developers to create and publish their safety protocol information. Any incidents that occur must be reported to the state within 72 hours of being discovered.
Second, it establishes an oversight office within the Department of Financial Services to advance transparency. The new office will assess large frontier developers and issue reports annually.
Under this new law, the Attorney General can bring civil actions against large frontier developers over their failure to submit required reporting or making false statements. Penalties may cost up to $1 million for the first violation and up to $3 million for additional violations.
“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 a statement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 53 in September, also known as the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act. This bill set new safety disclosure requirements and whistleblower protections for the companies operating frontier AI models.
As New York state government works to advance AI training and capabilities, more governance is needed to do so responsibly, a previous report found.
Assemblymember Alex Bores, who sponsored the Assembly version of the bill, said in a statement that enacting this legislation marks the defeat of the president’s donor-supported attempts to stop this legislation through executive action.
“Big tech oligarchs think it’s fine to put their profits ahead of our safety — we disagree,” state Sen. Andrew Gounardes said in a statement. He sponsored the Senate version of the bill.
