New York opens RAISE Act portal, putting OpenAI and Anthropic on the clock

New York isn't waiting for Washington. The state opened a registration portal Tuesday that large frontier AI developers must use by January 1, 2027, with the RAISE Act taking effect at the start of the year. The law applies to companies booking more than $500 million in annual revenue.

The requirements are concrete. Covered labs must publish safety frameworks on their own websites, report critical safety incidents within 72 hours, and put out public model transparency reports. A newly formed state office — the Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust, or DIGIT — will run the show. Penalties can hit $1 million for a single violation and $3 million for each one after that. New York can also bring enforcement actions against companies that skip registration; a spokesperson declined to say what those would look like.

Governor Kathy Hochul didn't soften the pitch. “Tech moguls tell us that their vision for AI is inevitable,” she said at a Tuesday press briefing. “They tell us get on board or get left behind … That any collateral damage is worth it as long as we win the race to the AI cliff.” She also launched the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research at SUNY Binghamton, which will independently evaluate advanced AI systems and work with DIGIT to review the safety frameworks companies file. Hochul first floated the center in January with $55 million in donations and capital. “We're building a national model for smart, sensible AI regulation,” she said.

New York already has other AI laws in play. Since last year it has enforced rules requiring AI companion operators to regularly remind users they're talking to a bot and to make reasonable efforts to detect suicidal ideation and self-harm. In October, Hochul signed a separate chatbot safety law for minors, barring deceptive human-like interactions, emotionally manipulative or sycophantic responses, and encouragement of suicide or disordered eating. That one lands June 1, 2027.

The state is part of a pack. California's SB 53 took effect in January and requires frontier labs to publish safety frameworks, protect whistleblowers and report critical safety incidents within 15 days. Illinois' SB 315 kicks in at the start of 2027 with similar rules, plus independent safety compliance audits.