New York Takes Aim at Big AI with New Safety Law, But Fines Slashed New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed a new law imposing safety and transparency requirements on major artificial intelligence developers, positioning the state alongside California as an early mover in regulating the powerful technology. The legislation, known as the RAISE Act, was signed on Friday. The law mandates that large AI companies, particularly those developing advanced frontier models, must publicly disclose their safety testing protocols and report any significant safety incidents to the state within 72 hours. It also establishes a dedicated AI safety and transparency office within the New York Department of Financial Services. This new office will be tasked with monitoring the industry and issuing annual assessment reports on the developers it oversees. However, the final version of the law includes significantly reduced financial penalties compared to what state lawmakers initially passed back in June. The original bill proposed fines of up to 10 million dollars for a first violation and up to 30 million dollars for subsequent offenses. The version Governor Hochul signed sets those maximum fines at 1 million dollars for a first violation and 3 million dollars for later violations. This move by New York follows similar legislation adopted in California several months ago, creating a coastal regulatory framework for the AI industry. Governor Hochul has been active on AI policy, having signed two other pieces of legislation earlier in December focused on regulating the use of AI and digital replicas within the entertainment and advertising industries. The state-level actions come amid a broader national debate over how to govern AI. The federal government, under President Trump, has taken a different approach, advocating for a single national standard that would preempt state laws. Earlier this month, the President signed an executive order calling for a minimally burdensome national framework and created a litigation task force specifically to challenge state AI regulations like those now enacted in New York and California. This sets the stage for potential legal conflicts between state and federal authorities over who has the primary right to regulate the rapidly evolving technology.
