New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed the RAISE Act into law. With this action, New York joins California as the second state in the nation to pass significant artificial intelligence safety legislation. This move follows California’s adoption of a similar safety bill in September, positioning both states as leaders in AI regulation amidst growing concerns over the technology’s impact.
The RAISE Act, which state lawmakers unanimously passed in June, is intended to bring increased transparency and accountability to AI systems. Requires companies to submit safety management plan reports on a regular basis. If they do not meet those standards, they may be penalized up to $1 million for first violations and $3 million for repeat violations. The legislation arose after extensive lobbying from the tech industry, prompting Hochul to propose amendments to address some concerns while maintaining the bill’s core objectives.
In her announcement, Hochul emphasized the importance of the RAISE Act and so, it bears repeating.
“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.”
Andrew Gounardes, state senator and strong supporter of the legislation. He claims that it is a demonstration of New York’s dedication to making sure AI is safe for the public.
“Big Tech thought they could weasel their way into killing our bill. We shut them down and passed the strongest AI safety law in the country.”
The RAISE Act is likely to establish a strong model for other states. We hope this will encourage federal lawmakers to further examine the need for comprehensive AI legislation. Sarah Heck, a prominent advocate for AI transparency, remarked on the implications of this dual-state legislation:
“The fact that two of the largest states in the country have now enacted AI transparency legislation signals the critical importance of safety and should inspire Congress to build on them.”
Anthony Ha, who is TechCrunch’s weekend editor and previously covered the media industry, is one of the leading technology journalists of his generation. Prior to joining TechCrunch, he spent time at Adweek as a tech reporter, and before that was a senior editor at VentureBeat. Ha’s trajectory into journalism started out as a government reporter for the Hollister Free Lance. His experience includes being the vice president of content at a venture capital incubator.
Now that the RAISE Act has gone into effect, AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic are advocating for federal regulations and supporting New York’s new law. The intersection of state and potential federal initiatives reflects ongoing discussions about balancing innovation with public safety in rapidly evolving technologies.
