On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul enacted a law designed to make major AI developers responsible for the security of their systems. Known as the RAISE Act, it mandates increased openness by obligating these firms to disclose details on their protective measures and notify authorities of any events within three days of detection. This follows by several months a comparable law passed in California.
However, the financial consequences are considerably lighter than those outlined in the initial draft approved in June. That proposal featured penalties reaching $10 million for an initial breach and $30 million for later ones, as reported by Politico, but the final version approved by Hochul caps fines at $1 million for the first offense and $3 million for additional infractions. Beyond the disclosure requirements, the RAISE Act creates a specialized unit within the Department of Financial Services to oversee AI safety and openness, which will release yearly evaluations of prominent AI companies.
Earlier this month in December, Hochul also approved two additional AI-related bills targeting its application in the entertainment sector. Meanwhile, President Trump is working to limit state-level AI oversight efforts and recently issued an executive order advocating for a 'minimally burdensome national standard' as an alternative.