New York’s landmark AI safety bill was defanged — and universities were part of the push against it

lastmansurfing
Dec 29, 2025
1 min read

A group of tech companies and academic institutions spent tens of thousands of dollars in the past month — likely between $17,000 and $25,000 — on an ad campaign against New York’s landmark AI safety bill, which may have reached more than two million people, according to Meta’s Ad Library.

The landmark bill is called the RAISE Act, or the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, and days ago, a version of it was signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

The closely watched law dictates that AI companies developing large models — OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, DeepSeek, etc. — must outline safety plans and transparency rules for reporting large-scale safety incidents to the attorney general.

But the version Hochul signed — different than the one passed in both the New York State Senate and the Assembly in June — was a rewrite that made it much more favorable to tech companies.