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Assembly passes RAISE Act to set New York standards for frontier AI
Summary
The Assembly approved chapter amendments to the RAISE Act requiring the largest AI developers to publish safety plans, report critical safety incidents to the state, and support a new office (proposed name: Digit) to oversee frontier‑AI issues; the bill passed 134–1 and takes effect immediately.
The New York State Assembly on a large bipartisan vote approved chapter amendments to the RAISE Act, a bill aimed at creating statewide standards for regulating so‑called "frontier" artificial intelligence.
Assemblymember Barras, sponsor of the measure, said the law targets the absolute largest developers and requires public safety plans, state reporting of critical incidents and the creation of a state office to study and monitor frontier‑AI systems. "The RAISE Act as we're passing it today establishes itself as the strongest AI safety bill in the country," Barras said, adding that the measure was negotiated with the governor and the Senate and aligns with work in other states.
The bill restructures the earlier text, lowers the act’s "catastrophic risk" threshold (from a prior 100 deaths to 50), removes a liability provision that had barred release of dangerous models, and shifts the qualifying threshold from a training‑spend test to a revenue threshold (sponsors described a $500 million revenue trigger). Sponsors also said the legislation authorizes the establishment of an office (tentatively named Digit in budget proposals) to collect disclosure reports, aggregate anonymized statistics, suggest reporting improvements and advise future legislation.
Members pressed the sponsor on how the state law would interact with federal executive orders and whether the federal government might preempt state rules. Barras said he prefers federal regulation but argued that states must act while the federal government remains inactive. Representative Gandolfo asked how the new office would be structured and whether it would be a standalone agency; Barras said the broader budget proposal places the function within a new office funded initially through appropriations and later by assessments on AI companies.
The Assembly recorded 134 ayes and 1 no; the sponsor explained his yes vote by saying the bill protects New Yorkers while permitting innovation to continue. The clerk announced the bill had passed and that it will take effect immediately.
What happens next: The bill will be implemented through the statutory provisions and the budgeted office; sponsors said further details about the office’s structure and funding will be addressed in the executive‑budget process and future budget discussions.
