New York launches the first state AI testing program

New York Governor Kathy Hochul launched a first-in-the-nation statewide program on November 10 to independently test advanced artificial intelligence systems and train a new generation of AI safety experts, building it on the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research at the State University of New York at Binghamton and timing it to the state's AI safety law, the RAISE Act, which takes effect January 1, 2027.

The announcement was first shared with POLITICO's Decoded and posted by the governor's office the same day. The center, known as NYCAIRR, will bring together more than 80 researchers from colleges and research institutions across New York, led by interim co-directors Greg Morrisett of Cornell Tech and Jeannette Wing of Columbia University. It will use computing from Empire AI, the state's $500 million public-private research initiative.

The money behind it was committed earlier. Hochul first announced the center on January 21, 2026 with a $30 million philanthropic gift from a group of donors led by Binghamton University alumnus and Bloomberg LP co-founder Tom Secunda, paired with a $25 million research investment from SUNY. New York State provides operating capital. Binghamton University described the combined commitment as $55 million. Secunda also serves as the independent chair of the Empire AI consortium's board. The November launch adds the statewide network and an independent-evaluation program to that earlier research center, according to Unite.AI.

Independent testing here means the state, through the center, evaluates frontier AI systems instead of relying on the developers' own accounts. "The stakes are too high to simply take AI companies at their word," Hochul said in the November 10 announcement. At the state's request, NYCAIRR will coordinate with the state's new Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity and Trust, known as DIGIT, to begin reviewing AI developers' published safety frameworks and recommend ways to strengthen the requirements.

The RAISE Act, short for the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, sets the rules that testing is meant to inform. Under the law, large frontier AI developers operating in New York must publish safety and transparency frameworks on their websites, report critical safety incidents to DIGIT within 72 hours, and file quarterly assessments of catastrophic risks. They must also register with DIGIT, file a disclosure statement at least every other year starting January 1, 2027, and pay assessments. Registration opened through a new RAISE Portal, with a deadline of January 1, 2027. DIGIT sits within the New York State Department of Financial Services.

The federal government has not adopted mandatory AI safety rules. The Trump administration has opted for a voluntary framework shared only with companies, and Hochul has pointed to that inaction as the reason for New York's approach. "While the federal government fails to act, New York is leading the way on AI safety and holding big tech accountable," she said on November 10. In a September 21 announcement, the governor's office framed the state's work as stepping up as the Trump administration fails to act.

For people who make video and other work with AI, the center's testing and the RAISE Act's reporting duties fall on the developers of frontier models, not on individual users. How the state's reviews shape what developers publish, and whether they change model access or terms, is not yet settled. The center will also fund foundational research and recruit specialists in areas including interpretability and alignment, agentic and complex systems, hardware security, and biosecurity.

Large frontier developers must register through the RAISE Portal by January 1, 2027, when the RAISE Act takes effect.