New York’s RAISE Act and California’s SB 53 Set the U.S. Frontier AI Baseline

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the RAISE Act in December 2025. Large AI developers must publish information about their safety protocols and report safety incidents to the state within 72 hours, with penalties of up to $1 million for failing to file or making false statements, and $3 million for repeat violations.

California's SB 53 requires companies with more than $500 million in revenue to assess and publicly disclose catastrophic-risk findings, with fines of up to $1 million per violation. SB 243, covering companion chatbots, took effect January 1, 2026.

The state laws now sit under pressure from federal preemption efforts described elsewhere on this site.

Source: TechCrunch