What happened
On September 18, 2026, NY State Senator Fahy introduced Senate Bill S10701, which amends the state's existing frontier-AI safety statute (General Business Law, added by chapter 96 of the laws of 2026 — the RAISE Act) to add provisions on independent safety evaluations, monitoring, reporting, security, mitigation measures, employee protections, and enforcement mechanisms relating to frontier AI models. It also clarifies that disclosure of a risk's severity alone does not constitute 'concealment, obstruction, or interference' for penalty purposes, and adjusts pro-rata assessment of large frontier developers to fund the regulating department's operations.
Why it matters
This is a legislative amendment strengthening and clarifying New York's frontier-AI safety regime (RAISE Act) before its January 2027 effective date — expanding whistleblower/employee protections and refining enforcement standards, which affects how large frontier AI developers must structure safety disclosures and internal reporting.
Action needed
Frontier AI developers subject to New York's RAISE Act should track S10701 through committee (currently referred to Senate Rules Committee) and prepare for potential added whistleblower-protection and disclosure obligations ahead of the Act's Jan 1, 2027 effective date.