The New York Responsible Artificial Intelligence Safety and Education (RAISE)
Act takes effect on January 1, 2027. This article discusses critical safety incident
reporting, exceptions, and New York attorney general enforcement of, and no private
right of action under, the New York RAISE Act.
NY RAISE Act Critical Safety Incident Reporting
The office shall establish a mechanism to be used by a frontier
developer or a member of the public to report a critical safety incident that
includes all of the following.
The date of the critical safety incident;
The reasons the incident qualifies as a critical safety incident;
A short and plain statement describing the critical safety incident; and
Whether the incident was associated with internal use of a frontier
model.
A large frontier developer shall transmit to the office a summary
of any assessment of catastrophic risk resulting from internal use of its frontier
models every 3 months or pursuant to another reasonable schedule requested by the
large frontier developer, communicated in writing to the office with written
updates, as appropriate, and agreed upon by the office. The office shall establish a
mechanism to be used by a large frontier developer to confidentially submit
summaries of any assessments of the potential for catastrophic risk resulting from
internal use of its frontier models.
The office shall take all reasonable precautions to limit access to any reports related to internal use of frontier models to only personnel authorized to know the information and to protect the reports from unauthorized access.
Subject to the immediately following sentence, a frontier developer shall report any critical safety incident pertaining to one or more of its frontier models to the office within 72 hours from a determination that a critical safety incident has occurred or within 72 hours of the frontier developer learning facts sufficient to establish a reasonable belief that a critical safety incident has occurred. If a frontier developer discovers that a critical safety incident poses an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury, the frontier developer shall disclose that incident within 24 hours to an authority, including any law enforcement agency or public safety agency with jurisdiction, that is appropriate based on the nature of that incident and as required by law. A frontier developer that discovers information about a critical safety incident after filing the initial report required hereby may file an amended report.
A frontier developer that intends to comply with the immediately
preceding paragraph by complying with the requirements of, or meeting the standards
stated by, a federal law, regulation, or guidance document designated pursuant to
N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422(8) shall declare its intent to do so to the office. After
a frontier developer has declared such intent, the following shall apply.
The frontier developer shall be deemed in compliance with the immediately
preceding paragraph to the extent that the frontier developer meets the
standards of, or complies with the requirements imposed or stated by, the
designated federal law, regulation, or guidance document until the frontier
developer declares the revocation of that intent to the office or the office
revokes a relevant regulation;
The failure by a frontier developer to meet the standards of, or comply with
the requirements stated by, the federal law, regulation, or guidance document
designated pursuant to N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422(8) shall constitute a violation
of the New York RAISE Act; and
Frontier developers who comply with the immediately preceding paragraph by
meeting such federal standards shall send copies of any critical safety incident
reports required by such federal standards to the office concurrently with
sending them to federal authorities.
The office shall review critical safety incident reports submitted by frontier developers and may review reports submitted by members of the public.
The office may transmit reports of critical safety incidents or
summaries of any assessments of catastrophic risk from internal use of frontier
models to other governmental entities at its discretion, considering for example,
and without limitation, the following: the severity of any such incident, potential
ongoing risks, legal or regulatory obligations, the need for coordinating with other
governmental agencies or other entities, and the availability of information. The
office shall consider transmitting such reports or summaries to the office of the
New York attorney general, as appropriate. Any report transmitted from the office to
another governmental entity shall be exempt from disclosure under Article 6 of the
New York Public Officers Law.
The office may consider, at its discretion, any risks related to
trade secrets, public safety, cyber security of a frontier developer, or national
security when transmitting reports. A report of a critical safety incident submitted
to the office pursuant hereto and a report of assessments of catastrophic risk from
internal use pursuant to N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1421 are exempt from disclosure under
Article 6 of the New York Public Officers Law.
Beginning January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the office
shall produce a report that includes the following.
Anonymized and aggregated information about critical safety incidents that
have been reviewed by the office since the preceding report;
Any information that the office deems relevant to frontier model
safety;
Recommended updates to the New York RAISE Act, if any; and
Any developments relevant to the purposes of the New York RAISE Act.
The office shall not include information in a report pursuant
hereto that would compromise the trade secrets or cyber security of a frontier
developer, public safety, or the national security of the US or that would be
prohibited by any federal or state law. The office shall transmit a report pursuant
hereto to the New York governor, the temporary president and minority leader of the
New York senate, the speaker and minority leader of the New York assembly, the chair
and ranking member of the New York senate committee on internet and technology, and
the chair and ranking member of the New York assembly committee on science and
technology.
The office may adopt regulations designating one or more federal
laws, regulations, or guidance documents that meet all of the following conditions
for the purposes of N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422(9).
The law, regulation, or guidance document imposes or states standards or
requirements for critical safety incident reporting that are substantially
equivalent to, or stricter than, those required by N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422(3),
and the law, regulation, or guidance document described herein does not need to
require critical safety incident reporting to the state of New York; and
The law, regulation, or guidance document is intended to assess, detect, or
mitigate the catastrophic risk.
The office shall revoke a regulation adopted hereunder if the requirements hereof are no longer met.
NY RAISE Act Exceptions
The New York RAISE Act does not apply to the following.
Accredited colleges and universities in New York, to the extent such
colleges and universities are engaging in academic research regarding AI models;
or
The Empire AI consortium or the institute, as such terms are defined by N.Y.
Econ. Dev. Law § 361.
NY RAISE Act Enforcement
New York Attorney General Enforcement
The New York attorney general may bring a civil action to recover a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1 million for a first violation and in an amount not to exceed $3 million per subsequent violation, determined based on the severity of the violation where a large frontier developer fails to publish or transmit a compliant document required to be published or transmitted under the New York RAISE Act, makes a statement in violation of N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1421(4), fails to report an incident as required by N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422, or fails to comply with its own frontier AI framework.
No Private Right of Action
Nothing in the New York RAISE Act shall be construed to establish, authorize,
or create a private right of action associated with violations of the New York
RAISE Act.
Nothing in the New York RAISE Act shall be construed to prevent a large
frontier developer from asserting that another person, entity, or factor may be
responsible for any alleged harm, injury, or damage resulting from a
catastrophic risk or critical safety incident.
The loss of value of equity shall not count as damage to or loss of property for the purposes of the New York RAISE Act.
The duties and obligations imposed by the New York RAISE Act are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve any party from any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and do not limit any rights or remedies under existing law.
Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are not necessarily held by the author's employer or IRMI. Expert Commentary articles and other IRMI Online content do not purport to provide legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinion. If such advice is needed, consult with your attorney, accountant, or other qualified adviser.
The New York Responsible Artificial Intelligence Safety and Education (RAISE) Act takes effect on January 1, 2027. This article discusses critical safety incident reporting, exceptions, and New York attorney general enforcement of, and no private right of action under, the New York RAISE Act.
NY RAISE Act Critical Safety Incident Reporting
The office shall establish a mechanism to be used by a frontier developer or a member of the public to report a critical safety incident that includes all of the following.
A large frontier developer shall transmit to the office a summary of any assessment of catastrophic risk resulting from internal use of its frontier models every 3 months or pursuant to another reasonable schedule requested by the large frontier developer, communicated in writing to the office with written updates, as appropriate, and agreed upon by the office. The office shall establish a mechanism to be used by a large frontier developer to confidentially submit summaries of any assessments of the potential for catastrophic risk resulting from internal use of its frontier models.
The office shall take all reasonable precautions to limit access to any reports related to internal use of frontier models to only personnel authorized to know the information and to protect the reports from unauthorized access.
Subject to the immediately following sentence, a frontier developer shall report any critical safety incident pertaining to one or more of its frontier models to the office within 72 hours from a determination that a critical safety incident has occurred or within 72 hours of the frontier developer learning facts sufficient to establish a reasonable belief that a critical safety incident has occurred. If a frontier developer discovers that a critical safety incident poses an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury, the frontier developer shall disclose that incident within 24 hours to an authority, including any law enforcement agency or public safety agency with jurisdiction, that is appropriate based on the nature of that incident and as required by law. A frontier developer that discovers information about a critical safety incident after filing the initial report required hereby may file an amended report.
A frontier developer that intends to comply with the immediately preceding paragraph by complying with the requirements of, or meeting the standards stated by, a federal law, regulation, or guidance document designated pursuant to N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422(8) shall declare its intent to do so to the office. After a frontier developer has declared such intent, the following shall apply.
The office shall review critical safety incident reports submitted by frontier developers and may review reports submitted by members of the public.
The office may transmit reports of critical safety incidents or summaries of any assessments of catastrophic risk from internal use of frontier models to other governmental entities at its discretion, considering for example, and without limitation, the following: the severity of any such incident, potential ongoing risks, legal or regulatory obligations, the need for coordinating with other governmental agencies or other entities, and the availability of information. The office shall consider transmitting such reports or summaries to the office of the New York attorney general, as appropriate. Any report transmitted from the office to another governmental entity shall be exempt from disclosure under Article 6 of the New York Public Officers Law.
The office may consider, at its discretion, any risks related to trade secrets, public safety, cyber security of a frontier developer, or national security when transmitting reports. A report of a critical safety incident submitted to the office pursuant hereto and a report of assessments of catastrophic risk from internal use pursuant to N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1421 are exempt from disclosure under Article 6 of the New York Public Officers Law.
Beginning January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the office shall produce a report that includes the following.
The office shall not include information in a report pursuant hereto that would compromise the trade secrets or cyber security of a frontier developer, public safety, or the national security of the US or that would be prohibited by any federal or state law. The office shall transmit a report pursuant hereto to the New York governor, the temporary president and minority leader of the New York senate, the speaker and minority leader of the New York assembly, the chair and ranking member of the New York senate committee on internet and technology, and the chair and ranking member of the New York assembly committee on science and technology.
The office may adopt regulations designating one or more federal laws, regulations, or guidance documents that meet all of the following conditions for the purposes of N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422(9).
The office shall revoke a regulation adopted hereunder if the requirements hereof are no longer met.
NY RAISE Act Exceptions
The New York RAISE Act does not apply to the following.
NY RAISE Act Enforcement
New York Attorney General Enforcement
The New York attorney general may bring a civil action to recover a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1 million for a first violation and in an amount not to exceed $3 million per subsequent violation, determined based on the severity of the violation where a large frontier developer fails to publish or transmit a compliant document required to be published or transmitted under the New York RAISE Act, makes a statement in violation of N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1421(4), fails to report an incident as required by N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 1422, or fails to comply with its own frontier AI framework.
No Private Right of Action
Nothing in the New York RAISE Act shall be construed to establish, authorize, or create a private right of action associated with violations of the New York RAISE Act.
Nothing in the New York RAISE Act shall be construed to prevent a large frontier developer from asserting that another person, entity, or factor may be responsible for any alleged harm, injury, or damage resulting from a catastrophic risk or critical safety incident.
The loss of value of equity shall not count as damage to or loss of property for the purposes of the New York RAISE Act.
The duties and obligations imposed by the New York RAISE Act are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve any party from any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and do not limit any rights or remedies under existing law.
Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are not necessarily held by the author's employer or IRMI. Expert Commentary articles and other IRMI Online content do not purport to provide legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinion. If such advice is needed, consult with your attorney, accountant, or other qualified adviser.