‘Little tech’ lobby starts campaign against AI regulation bills

The American Innovators Network, a coalition of early-stage artificial intelligence startups and venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, is sending a memo of opposition to the RAISE Act and other AI regulation currently being considered by the state Legislature. 

“We support thoughtful regulation of genuinely high-risk AI applications,” the memo reads. “But as written, these bills go far beyond targeted oversight and instead threaten to undermine New York’s leadership as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.”

The RAISE Act, sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assembly Member Alex Bores would require large developers to create safety protocols for their cutting-edge, large-scale machine learning models and would introduce penalties should they fail to meet requirements. The New York Artificial Intelligence Act, sponsored by state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, would require artificial intelligence developers to ensure ethical and transparent AI while adding reporting requirements. The Artificial Intelligence Training Data Transparency Act, sponsored by Gounardes and Bores, would require transparency for data used to train generative artificial intelligence models. AIN argues that these bills may be well-intentioned, but they will discourage innovation, restrict open source development and consolidate power for “big tech.”

Creating a safe artificial intelligence environment for consumers has been a focus for state lawmakers for several years, but heavy lobbying and some concessions have meant that not all bills reach the height of their sponsors’ ambitions. 

However, lawmakers view the proposed regulations as common-sense legislation that would clearly define requirements and repercussions for artificial intelligence developers in New York, and in some cases, hew close to other state’s bills as to avoid confusion. 

Gonzalez told City & State that she doesn’t understand why the artificial intelligence industry and associated sectors seem to bristle at regulation, especially when industry leaders like Sam Altman had previously called for it. 

“When we first started this work, we were coming from a place of agreement, of shared understanding that any time we revolutionize any industry, anytime we have new and emerging technologies that are high risk, we absolutely need the regulation to protect people to come with it,” Gonzalez said. “And yet, we have not yet seen a single bill that industry has been excited about, or truly willing to support in a substantive way.”

Bores had even blunter words for the coalition. 

“I don't think we should take tech advice from a company that hires someone where there's a video of them strangling a New Yorker to death on the subway,” Bores said, referring to Andreessen Horowitz’s controversial decision to hire Daniel Penny, who was acquitted for the subway death of Jordan Neely last year. 

Gounardes echoed Gonzalez’s view that the industry, as well as others developing in New York, need substantial regulation. 

“These people would not put their kids in the car without a seatbelt or an airbag at 150 miles an hour,” Gounardes said. “And the biggest voices in tech who are putting the most money into this, into these technologies, are the same people who bankrolled Donald Trump's campaign.” 

The American Innovation Network is planning to invest north of six figures to raise awareness about the harm they fear these bills will cause, through a mixture of advertising, lobbying and fieldwork. Their memo includes a list of worst-case scenarios that the bills could lead to, like educators and domestic violence support providers facing legal repercussions for using AI technologies or even students facing regulation meant for large-scale companies like Open AI. 

“The future of responsible AI, startup jobs, and open technological access in New York is at stake,” the memo reads. “We and like-minded advocates for Little Tech and innovation are urging lawmakers to revise these bills to foster responsible innovation that does not stymie competition.”