New York Launches State AI Safety Testing Center and Opens RAISE Act Registration for Frontier AI Developers

New York Governor Kathy Hochul launched the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research, a state effort to independently test advanced AI systems for safety and security. The center, based at SUNY's Binghamton University, will bring together more than 80 researchers from across the state and use the computing power of Empire AI.

Greg Morrisett of Cornell Tech and Jeannette Wing of Columbia University will serve as interim co-directors. Hochul first announced the center in January with a $30 million philanthropic gift led by Bloomberg co-founder Tom Secunda and an initial $25 million research investment from SUNY.

The state's new Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust also opened a portal where large frontier AI developers must register with New York by 1 January 2027 under the RAISE Act. The law requires them to meet safety, transparency and reporting rules, including reporting any critical safety incident within 72 hours.

"The stakes are too high to simply take AI companies at their word," Hochul said.