Hochul rewrites New York AI safety bill
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul significantly scaled back the RAISE Act, a state AI safety bill sponsored by Assemblyman Alex Bores and Sen. Andrew Gounardes, removing a ban on releasing models that pose an 'unreasonable risk,' extending incident‑reporting to 15 days (from 72 hours), and weakening penalties. The governor’s office defended the changes as a commonsense, California‑aligned approach amid the absence of federal leadership, while the bill’s sponsors accused Big Tech of pressuring the state just as a federal executive order moved to undercut state AI laws.
📌 Key Facts
- Original RAISE Act required 72‑hour reporting of serious AI harms; Hochul’s rewrite extends it to 15 days
- Prohibition on releasing models posing an 'unreasonable risk' was removed and penalties were softened
- Hochul’s office said New York aims to model responsible AI policy; TechNYC backed alignment with California standards
📊 Relevant Data
A 2024 study found that large language models exhibit covert racism by associating speakers of African American English with lower-status jobs, more criminal convictions, and negative personality traits compared to speakers of Standard American English.
Covert Racism in AI: How Language Models Are Reinforcing Outdated Stereotypes — Stanford HAI
In a 2025 study, AI platforms showed racial bias in generating treatment recommendations for psychiatric patients, with patterns of differing regimens based on patient race.
Cedars-Sinai Study Shows Racial Bias in AI-Generated Treatment Regimens for Psychiatric Patients — Cedars-Sinai
AI tools ranked resumes with white-associated names higher than Black-associated names 85% of the time in a 2024 study on job applicant screening.
AI tools show biases in ranking job applicants' names according to perceived race and gender — University of Washington
AI is projected to drive $320 billion in economic growth in New York by 2038.
New York Becomes First State to Mandate AI and Automation Disclosure in Layoffs — HR Spotlight
New York City's tech sector, boosted by AI, employs 225,000 workers, more than those on Wall Street.
How NYC Became an AI Industry Hot Spot — THE CITY