Democrats in the New York legislature are pushing to enact a package of artificial intelligence regulations before adjourning next month, citing fresh urgency given the potential federal moratorium on state AI laws.
Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D) and colleagues on Tuesday highlighted several AI bills they hope to pass in the session’s final weeks. They include measures to prevent algorithmic discrimination, ensure that powerful AI models don’t unleash catastrophic harms, and prevent chatbots from impersonating licensed professionals.
Other bills in the package focus on worker displacement, protecting jobs in the film industry, and automated decision-making tools used by landlords and government agencies.
“Every day we do not act is a day these risks continue,” Gonzalez, chair of the Internet and Technology Committee, said at a news conference that included lawmakers and supporters.
New York previously enacted laws addressing state government use of AI and combating deepfakes, while also taking steps to encourage responsible AI innovation in the state.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a sweeping budget bill this month that includes regulations for artificial intelligence companion chatbots, which have been associated with harm to teens.
But New York lawmakers say more needs to be done. They cite an effort by congressional Republicans to preempt state and local AI regulations for a decade. Gonzalez and more than 50 other New York legislators last week sent U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a letter opposing the moratorium.
“This is not the time to stop states from moving forward and being proactive in our regulation,” Gonzalez said.
Time is running short to approve the package. The legislature’s scheduled adjournment is June 12.
One of the more high-profile bills is the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act from Assemblymember Alex Bores (D) and Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D). It would require the largest, most powerful AI models to implement written safety and security plans and take other steps to prevent critical harm such as the unleashing of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons.
Read more: N.Y. lawmaker set to unveil AI safety bill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a similar bill last year. Bores, who holds a master’s degree in computer science, said he narrowed and simplified the bill, but it still faces industry opposition.
“While we share the goal of ensuring the safe and equitable distribution of artificial intelligence (AI) innovations,” a coalition of industry groups and tech freedom advocates wrote in a recent letter, “[this bill] would create substantial obstacles to innovation, impose unworkable burdens on technology developers, and negatively impact the broader technology ecosystem, both within New York and nationally,”
Bores countered that many of the requirements in the bill are ones that major AI companies voluntarily committed to do under the Biden administration. He also said it is critical to pass the bill this year because the technology is evolving quickly and the Trump administration has made clear its focus is on AI innovation over regulation.
Bores is also hoping to pass a bill this year requiring AI developers to make their training data public, and another to require watermarking so that it is clear when content has been created or modified by generative AI. The training data bill is modeled on a first-in-the-nation California law enacted last year.
The renewed effort to pass AI legislation in New York has support from labor unions, youth online safety groups and privacy advocates.