New York has opened a registration portal for large artificial intelligence developers, putting the first piece of its landmark AI safety law into operation. The state announced on Tuesday 10 November that companies building frontier AI systems will be required to register by 1 January 2027, when the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act takes full effect.

The law, one of the most significant state-level AI safety measures in the United States, will apply to large frontier developers, defined in the state's reporting as companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue. OpenAI and Anthropic are among the companies expected to fall within its scope.

What the law requires

Under the RAISE Act, covered developers must publish safety and transparency frameworks on their own websites, file quarterly assessments of catastrophic risks, and report critical safety incidents to the state within 72 hours. They must also issue public model transparency reports, register with the state, file a disclosure statement at least every other year starting on 1 January 2027, and pay assessments to fund the programme.

The public will also be able to file suspected critical safety incident reports with the new regulator, which may pass them on to other government authorities. The regulator is expected to publish an annual public report summarising the incident reports it receives, its observations on frontier model safety and any recommended changes to the law.

A new regulator, DIGIT, will run the scheme

The RAISE Act will be implemented by the state's newly formed Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust, known as DIGIT, which sits within the New York State Department of Financial Services. Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed Marc Gilman as Deputy Director for the RAISE Act, the first full-time hire in the DIGIT office. Gilman previously served as general counsel and vice-president of compliance at Theta Lake and has taught at Fordham University School of Law.

Penalties for breaching the law can reach $1 million for a single violation and $3 million for subsequent violations, according to TechCrunch's reporting of the announcement. The state can also bring enforcement actions against companies that fail to register, although a spokesperson declined to give details of how that power would be used.

Hochul: people deserve to know what AI firms are doing

Announcing the move, Governor Hochul said: "When companies are building some of the most powerful technology in the world, people deserve to know what they're doing to keep it safe, and those companies should be held accountable when things go wrong." She added that New York would not wait for Washington to act, saying the state was building "a national model for smart, sensible AI regulation, a model that puts communities above corporations and people above powerful technology".

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who championed the legislation, said her office would enforce the law and "do everything in our power to keep New Yorkers safe". State Senator Andrew Gounardes, who sponsored the RAISE Act, described the announcement as an important step and said the work would not stop there.

A research centre and a wider state trend

Hochul also launched the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research, based at the State University of New York's Binghamton University. The centre will independently evaluate the safety, security and operation of advanced AI systems and work with DIGIT to review companies' safety frameworks. Hochul first announced the centre in January, backed by $55 million in donations and capital.

New York is not acting alone. California's SB 53, which took effect in January, requires frontier AI labs to publish safety frameworks, protect whistleblowers and report critical safety incidents within 15 days. Illinois has passed a similar law, SB 315, which takes effect at the start of 2027 and adds independent safety compliance audits. The RAISE Act is separate from two other New York measures: a law requiring AI companion operators to tell users they are talking to a bot, and a chatbot safety law for under-18s signed in October, which takes effect on 1 June 2027.

Registration is open now, with the substantive duties — published safety frameworks, incident reporting and regular risk assessments — becoming mandatory from January 2027. Hochul said she would explore further steps to build on the RAISE Act in the coming months.

Sources: TechCrunch: OpenAI, Anthropic face new oversight as New York's AI safety law takes effect and Office of Governor Kathy Hochul: AI Safety — Governor Hochul Announces Next Steps to Regulate Major AI Developers.