New York Legislature Passes AI Safety Transparency Bill

New York state legislators have passed the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, a pioneering bill aimed at preventing disasters caused by frontier AI models from major companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. The legislation introduces the first legally mandated transparency and safety reporting standards for the largest AI labs, requiring them to submit detailed safety and security reports and to disclose incidents such as unusual AI behavior or unauthorized access. Co-sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes, the bill was designed to avoid hindering innovation among startups and academic researchers, addressing critiques faced by similar legislation in California. The RAISE Act carries civil penalties of up to $30 million for non-compliance and is supported by prominent AI safety advocates including Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton and AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio. The bill now awaits Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision to sign it into law, amend it, or veto it. Separately, Governor Hochul recently signed another law mandating transparency and safety protocols for personalized algorithmic pricing and AI companions, reflecting New York’s broader regulatory approach to AI and algorithmic technologies.