New York Governor Kathy Hochul signs the RAISE Act to regulate AI safety

Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the RAISE Act, making New York the second US state to enact major AI security legislation.

State legislators passed the RAISE Act in June, but following lobbying from the tech industry, Hochul wants to change to repay the loan. The New York Times said that Hochul agreed to sign the original bill, while lawmakers agreed to amend the proposed bill next year.

The bill would require major AI developers to disclose their safety data and report the safety data to the government within 72 hours. It would also create a new office within the Treasury Department to oversee AI development.

If companies fail to report safety issues or make false statements, they can be fined up to $1 million ($3 million for violations).

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a similar security document in September, which Hochul mentioned his announcement.

“This law is in line with California’s recent initiative, which creates an alliance between the most technologically advanced states in the country while the state lags behind, failing to enforce laws that protect all citizens,” Hochul said.

State Senator Andrew Gounardes, one of the sponsors of the bill, has been sent“Big Tech thought it could kill our bill. We shut them down and enacted the strongest AI protection law in the country.”

Both OpenAI and Anthropic have expressed their support for the New York bill as they seek federal legislation, with Anthropic’s foreign policy leader. Sarah Heck tells the NYT“The fact that the two largest states in the country have now enacted comprehensive AI legislation is an important sign of safety and should encourage Congress to act.”

Not everyone in the tech industry contributed as much. Instead, a super PAC backed by Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman is looking into it challenge Assemblyman Alex Boreswho contributed the money is Mr. Gounardes. (Bores told reporters, “I appreciate how straightforward he is.”)

This comes after President Donald Trump signed the executive order which leads federal agencies to challenge state AI laws. The order – with the help of Trump’s AI czar David Sacks — is the latest attempt by the Trump Administration to limit the ability of states to regulate AI, and they will they will probably be challenged in court.

We also discussed the Trump administration, and the role Sacks and a16z played in opposing AI legislation, in a recent episode of Equity Podcast.