New York has enacted sweeping legislation to regulate artificial intelligence development, with the state becoming a national leader in AI safety alongside California. The primary piece of this regulatory framework is the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on December 19, 2025, and set to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The RAISE Act’s Scope and Requirements
The RAISE Act targets large developers of frontier AI models—extremely large-scale AI systems trained using more than 10^26 computational operations with development costs exceeding $100 million. The final version reportedly defines “large developers” as those with revenue exceeding $500 million, aligning the law with California’s similar Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (TFAIA) enacted in September 2025.
The law mandates that large AI developers develop and publish information regarding their safety protocols and notify the State within 72 hours of identifying a qualifying safety incident. Developers must also make their safety and security protocols available to relevant state authorities.
A significant aspect of the RAISE Act is that it covers even models deployed only for internal use by the companies developing them, extending the regulatory reach beyond publicly released products.
Enforcement and Penalties
The Attorney General can bring civil actions against large frontier developers for failing to comply with reporting obligations or for making false statements. Penalties have been set at up to $1 million for an initial violation and up to $3 million for subsequent violations—substantially lower than the $10 and $30 million penalties the legislature originally sought.
Additional AI Legislation
Beyond the RAISE Act, New York passed several other AI-related bills in 2025, including laws related to the disclosure of personalized algorithmic pricing, the use of algorithmic pricing by landlords, the disclosure of synthetic performers in advertisements, and the use of digital replicas.
One notable law signed on December 11, 2025, regulates the use of AI-generated “synthetic performers” in advertising, addressing concerns that AI-generated synthetic performers and manipulated media can undermine the ability to distinguish fact from fiction.
Alignment With California and Federal Strategy
Governor Hochul negotiated amendments to the RAISE Act after its June 2025 passage, pushing the text to align more closely with California’s SB-53. The law allows New York to designate a federal rule or standard as equivalent to the state transparency standard, enabling companies to comply with state requirements by meeting federal rules if equivalency is established.
This harmonization represents a deliberate strategy to avoid a fragmented patchwork of conflicting state AI regulations. As Governor Hochul stated, the law “builds on California’s recently adopted framework, creating a unified benchmark among the country’s leading tech states as the federal government lags behind.”
The convergence of New York and California’s approaches signals a coordinated effort by leading technology states to establish baseline AI safety standards while maintaining flexibility for federal oversight to take precedence when established.
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