New York will begin directing large artificial intelligence developers to register with the state in November as it prepares to enforce the RAISE Act, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday. The law's reporting and transparency requirements are set to take effect in January 2027.
The Responsible AI Safety and Education Act targets large developers of advanced, or frontier, AI models. It requires reports of critical safety incidents within 72 hours and regular submissions about potentially catastrophic risks, according to the governor's office.
The November step is a registration and preparation effort, not the start of the January 2027 compliance deadline. Hochul said her administration is considering additional AI safety measures in the coming months, but did not announce a specific new bill or rule Monday.
Oversight will fall to the Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity and Trust, known as DIGIT, within the state Department of Financial Services. The governor named Marc Gilman deputy director for implementation of the RAISE Act and said he is the office's first full-time hire.
What the law requires
Covered developers must establish safety and transparency frameworks and publish them on their websites. They must report qualifying critical incidents to DIGIT within 72 hours, with reports to other authorities when required, and submit quarterly assessments of catastrophic risks.
The law also calls for registration, a disclosure statement at least every other year beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and payments of assessments. The governor's announcement did not specify the amounts companies would owe or identify developers that would have to register in November.
Members of the public may report suspected critical safety incidents to DIGIT. The office can forward information to other government agencies and must issue an annual public report summarizing incidents, observations on frontier-model safety and potential changes to the law.
The distinction between a suspected incident reported by the public and a confirmed qualifying incident matters: the governor's release does not say that every public submission would trigger a company violation or an automatic enforcement action.
State office takes shape
Gilman previously was general counsel and vice president of compliance at Theta Lake, where he worked on AI, privacy and cybersecurity issues, the governor's office said. He also taught about financial services and technology as an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law.
Department of Financial Services staff with technology and cybersecurity expertise are already working on implementation, with more full-time hires expected. Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow said the office is building a process to examine companies' safety frameworks and emerging risks.
Hochul cast the state law as a response to what she described as a lack of federal action on advanced AI. That assessment is the governor's political position; Monday's announcement did not describe a new federal requirement or a change in federal law.
The governor also linked the AI effort to her separate pause on certain new hyperscale data-center environmental permits while the state develops a regulatory framework. That data-center policy is distinct from the RAISE Act's developer registration and incident-reporting requirements.
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