New York RAISE Act (Responsible AI Safety and Education Act)

The RAISE Act (Responsible AI Safety and Education Act) makes New York the second U.S. state, after California, to regulate the most powerful SI models directly.

Timeline

• June 2025: passed by the New York legislature.
• December 19, 2025: signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, with an agreement to amend it.
• March 27, 2026: Hochul signs the chapter amendment, bringing it closer to California SB 53.
• January 1, 2027: takes effect.

Who it covers

“Large frontier developers”: companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue that train frontier models using more than 10²⁶ operations, where the models are developed, deployed or operating in whole or in part in New York. Academic research at accredited universities is exempt. The original bill also had a $100 million compute-cost test and covered distilled models; the March 2026 chapter amendment removed both, aligning the law more closely with California.

Main requirements

1. Write and publish safety protocols, covering cybersecurity, mitigation of critical harms and testing.
2. Report safety incidents within 72 hours of determining one occurred (24 hours if there is an imminent risk of death or serious injury). That is far faster than California’s 15 days.
3. Review protocols annually and retain records.
4. A new office within the Department of Financial Services receives reports and can write rules.

Penalties

Civil fines of up to $1 million for a first violation and $3 million for repeat violations, reduced from the $10 million and $30 million in the original bill.

Federal tension

The RAISE Act is one of the state laws the federal preemption push targets. Unless Congress acts, it takes effect as scheduled.