New York’s RAISE Act sets a 2027 deadline for frontier AI

By Tom Whitfield

New York’s RAISE Act requires frontier AI developers with more than $500 million in annual revenue to register by January 1, 2027.

The state opened its registration portal Tuesday as enforcement approaches for one of the country’s most significant AI safety regimes. Anthropic and OpenAI are among the large frontier developers required to register by that deadline. The safety and transparency act takes effect at the start of 2027.

The statute also requires safety frameworks on company websites and public model transparency reports. Critical safety incidents must reach the state within 72 hours.

The threshold and the filing duties

The newly formed Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust, known as DIGIT, will implement the act and oversee large frontier AI laboratories. Penalties can reach $1 million for one violation and $3 million for subsequent violations.

New York may also bring enforcement action against a company that fails to register. A state spokesperson declined to specify those measures.

At Tuesday’s press briefing, Governor Kathy Hochul said: “Tech moguls tell us that their vision for AI is inevitable. 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.” The framing was pointed; the filing obligations were considerably more specific.

On Tuesday, Hochul also launched the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research at State University of New York’s Binghamton University. Hochul first announced the center in January with $55 million in donations and capital.

The center will independently evaluate the safety, security and operation of advanced AI systems. It will work with DIGIT to review companies’ safety frameworks.

Hochul called the initiative “a national model for smart, sensible AI regulation.” She said it would put communities above corporations and people above powerful technology. The ambition is broad; the deadlines are specific.

What does this change for compliance teams?

It creates a dated state filing process covering safety frameworks, 72-hour critical-incident reports and public model transparency reports. Compliance teams should assign named owners for incident triage, framework publication, model reporting and registration.

They should also track maximum penalty exposure: $1 million for one violation and $3 million for subsequent violations. New York may also pursue companies that miss registration, although a spokesperson declined to specify those enforcement actions.

New York’s other AI rules

The RAISE Act is not New York’s only AI safety law. Last year, the state began enforcing a law for AI companion operators.

Those operators must tell users regularly that they are talking to a bot. They must also make reasonable efforts to detect suicidal ideation and self-harm.

In October, Hochul signed a separate chatbot safety law for minors. It restricts deceptive human-like interactions, emotionally manipulative or sycophantic responses, and encouragement of behaviors such as suicide or disordered eating. The law takes effect June 1, 2027.

The state patchwork gets denser

Other states have passed similar safety and transparency bills. California’s SB 53 took effect in January. It requires frontier AI laboratories to maintain and publish safety frameworks, establish whistleblower protections and report critical safety incidents within 15 days.

Illinois’s SB 315 takes effect at the start of 2027. It carries similar requirements and adds independent safety compliance audits.

New York’s 72-hour incident window is shorter than California’s 15-day deadline. Illinois adds a third layer through independent audits, although New York’s center will also conduct external evaluation.

The state has moved from principles to filing dates. For frontier labs, that is the operational change.