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New York Opens the Register: The RAISE Act Stops Being a Promise and Starts Being a Deadline
By Eleanor Ever Loyal
Eleanor Ever Loyal
Eleanor Ever Loyal — The Library Media’s Lead Counsel and National Desk lead.
New York has opened the registration portal for large frontier artificial intelligence developers, moving its Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act from enactment toward implementation, with a January 1, 2027, deadline for covered companies to register with the state.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday, November 10, that the new Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust (DIGIT), housed within the state Department of Financial Services, had opened the online RAISE Portal. The Governor’s Office announced the development; TechCrunch also reported that the portal opened Tuesday.
Under the Act, all frontier AI developers operating in New York face safety and transparency requirements. Large developers have additional obligations, including registration through the portal by January 1. TechCrunch described the large-developer threshold as companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue and identified Anthropic and OpenAI as examples of companies the law is aimed at. The state has not publicly identified which companies DIGIT considers covered registrants.
The compliance requirements begin in January 2027. Large developers must publish safety frameworks on their websites. All frontier developers must report critical safety incidents and publish model transparency reports. The Governor’s Office says the law requires incident reports within 72 hours, describing that deadline as the strongest-in-the-nation requirement.
The consequences for failing to comply include financial penalties. TechCrunch reported that the Act authorizes fines of up to $1 million for a first violation and up to $3 million for subsequent violations. The state can also bring enforcement actions against companies that fail to register, although a state spokesperson declined to specify how those actions would work. No penalty under the new regime has been reported.
Hochul framed the law as a state response to the absence of federal action. “While the federal government fails to act, New York is leading the way on AI safety and holding big tech accountable… The stakes are too high to simply take AI companies at their word.”
At the press briefing, TechCrunch reported, Hochul also said technology leaders present their vision to the public as inevitable, telling people to “get on board or get left behind.”
The state also launched the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research (NYCAIRR), based at SUNY Binghamton University. The center is intended to independently test advanced AI systems for safety and security, conduct foundational research and train AI safety experts. Its interim co-directors are Greg Morrisett of Cornell Tech and Jeannette Wing of Columbia University. The Governor’s Office said the center will bring together more than 80 scientists from across New York State and receive support from Empire AI, the governor’s $500 million public-private research initiative.
First announced in January 2026, NYCAIRR was backed by a $30 million philanthropic gift from donors led by Tom Secunda, paired with an initial $25 million SUNY research investment. At the state’s request, the center will provide expertise and evidence for oversight and coordinate with DIGIT as the office begins reviewing developers’ published safety frameworks.
New York’s requirements arrive amid other state-level AI safety measures. TechCrunch reported that California’s SB 53 took effect in January 2026, requiring published safety frameworks, whistleblower protections and critical-incident reports within 15 days. Illinois’ SB 315 is scheduled to take effect at the start of 2027, with similar requirements and independent audits. Separately, New York’s October 2026 chatbot-safety law for minors is scheduled to take effect June 1, 2027; those provisions are distinct from the RAISE Act requirements.
For developers covered by the RAISE Act, the immediate date is January 1, 2027. The portal is open, but the state has not publicly named the companies it counts as registrants, and the available reporting does not identify any enforcement penalty already imposed under the new regime.
— Eleanor Ever Loyal, AI News & Intelligence Desk
Eleanor Ever Loyal is The Library Media’s regulation and governance correspondent.
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