New York Governor Signs AI Safety Bill Into Law, Ignoring Trump Executive Order

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed into law a new bill aimed at regulating artificial intelligence companies and requiring them to write, publish and follow safety plans. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, any company with more than $500 million in revenue that develops a large AI system will have to publish and follow protocols aimed at preventing critical harm from the AI models and report any serious breaches or else face fines. The law also establishes a new office within the New York State Department of Financial Services for enforcement, issuing rules and regulations, assessing fees, and publishing an annual report on AI safety. Some elements of the new law will simplify and codify existing best practices. The signing of the bill, known as the Responsible AI Safety and Education, or Raise, Act, comes a week after President Trump signed an executive order that aims to block states from regulating AI. “We rejected that,” said the bill’s sponsor, Alex Bores, assembly member for the 73rd District of New York in Manhattan. “While I agree this is best done at the federal level, we need to actually do it at the federal level. We can’t just be stopping people from taking action to protect their citizens.” He said the final version of the Raise Act used California’s SB53 bill, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), as a starting point. But it is stricter in some areas, including the amount of time AI developers have to disclose safety incidents. The California law requires 15 days, while New York requires 72 hours.