Kathy Hochul is the Governor of New York (D). On December 22, 2025 she signed the RAISE Act chapter amendments (S6953B/A6453B), making New York the second U.S. state, after California's SB 53, to enact frontier-AI transparency legislation. See New York RAISE Act and Governor Hochul Signs Nation-Leading Legislation to Require AI Frameworks for AI Frontier Models (NY DFS, December 22 2025).
RAISE Act signing
Hochul signed the RAISE Act chapter amendments on December 22, 2025. In her signing statement she described the law as building on California's framework and as filling a gap left by federal inaction (Source: Governor Hochul Signs Nation-Leading Legislation to Require AI Frameworks for AI Frontier Models (NY DFS, December 22 2025)):
"By enacting the RAISE Act, New York is once again leading the nation in setting a strong and sensible standard for frontier AI safety, holding the biggest developers accountable for their safety and transparency protocols. This law builds on California's recently adopted framework, creating a unified benchmark among the country's leading tech states as the federal government lags behind, failing to implement common-sense regulations that protect the public." — December 22, 2025
She defended the RAISE Act against the Trump December 2025 state-preemption executive order (Executive Order 14365).
Other AI policy
Earlier in Hochul's tenure New York established Empire AI, a state consortium of academia, industry, and government for public-good AI research, which she has characterized as the innovation complement to the state's AI-safety legislation.
On July 14, 2026, Hochul imposed a one-year moratorium on construction of new data centers drawing 50 MW or more — making New York the first U.S. state to halt large new data-center construction — directed a Generic Environmental Impact Statement to set consistent standards, and said she will pursue repeal of the state's data-center sales tax exemption (Source: reuters.com). President Trump attacked the pause on Truth Social on July 15; Hochul replied that "the communities powering AI should share in its success" (Source: cnbc.com). On July 20 she defended the pause as a one-year window to assess energy and other impacts and set the "rules of the road," as White House AI adviser David Sacks charged that the freeze rests on a "false accusation" against AI facilities (Source: insideaipolicy.com).
The same order directed Empire State Development to produce a Community Investment Framework for localities hosting data centers, which Hochul's administration released on September 15, 2026. It recommends that local governments seek community investments benchmarked at $1 million per megawatt of utility demand from developers proposing new data centers, so that host communities "share equitably in the long-term economic value created by these projects." The framework is voluntary, and its guidance states that the benchmark includes state-required grid-modernization investments and that municipalities decide with counsel whether to make it binding (Source: reuters.com; New York State Guidance for Host Communities: Community Investment Framework for Data Center Development (ESD, 2026)). See Data Center Siting / AI Power Politics.
On August 19, 2026 Hochul launched a series of listening sessions under her FutureWorks Commission, beginning with how women will experience AI-driven job disruption; her office noted that women hold 84% of New York employment in administrative, clerical, and customer service roles. The commission is tasked with proposing policy and private-sector solutions by the end of 2026 (Source: axios.com). See AI Labor Disruption.
In an interview published August 21, 2026 Hochul said the "thoughtful" approach for Democrats on data centers is to avoid demonizing business and focus on protecting constituents, and confirmed that she is calling for a one-year moratorium on data-center construction — shorter than what progressives in her own state support. She criticized the Senate Republican campaign arm's pressure on AI companies over data-center messaging: "I don't think it's government's role, certainly not the United States Senate's role, to be telling companies how to market their products" (Source: axios.com).
Hochul also uses AI inside state government: an initiative reported July 17, 2026 applies AI to analyze "every single rule" in New York State as part of a regulatory-review push (Source: theverge.com).
At a September 21, 2026 press conference announcing next steps to regulate major AI developers, Hochul raised the idea of an AI "kill switch," saying "As this technology evolves, we'll use every tool available that we have at the state level to protect New Yorkers." Only the lede of the coverage was retrievable, so the specific steps announced are not recorded here (Source: insideaipolicy.com). See AI kill switch.
Relationships
- signed: New York RAISE Act (chapter amendments, Dec 22, 2025)
- related: New York Data-Center Moratorium (2026) (executive moratorium, Jul 14, 2026)
- related: Scott Wiener (CA SB 53 author), Gavin Newsom (CA signing precedent), Andrew Gournardes (NY bill author), Alex Bores (Assembly co-sponsor), Kaitlin Asrow (DFS Acting Superintendent — administrator)