NY lawmakers ask House GOP not to block AI regulations

More than 50 Democratic state lawmakers sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson late Thursday night in opposition to a proposed moratorium on state and local attempts to regulate the artificial intelligence industry. The controversial attempt to preempt state-level AI regulations is part of the House GOP’s proposed budget bill, which is scheduled to be marked up on Friday morning.

“This proposed moratorium would not only undermine the work of state and local legislatures to minimize existing harms, but would also exacerbate the risks AI development poses by selectively excluding from the moratorium any legislation that makes it easier to remove the guardrails states have already enacted,” reads the letter, which was shared with City & State. 

The sign-on letter was organized by state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, the chair of the Senate Committee on Internet and Technology. “I believe New York is leading the nation in the fight for the safe and responsible adoption of AI technology,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “This moratorium, if passed, would undermine the work of state legislatures at a time when big tech’s influence has never been greater, and corporations are putting profit over the responsibility to protect people’s privacy, autonomy, and livelihoods. With over 50 New York legislators, we are standing up against this federal overreach and calling on House Republicans to work with states in safeguarding AI technology now, before it's too late.”

A total of 56 lawmakers across the state Senate and Assembly signed on to the letter. The signatories include a number of state legislators who are currently sponsoring bills that would regulate aspects of the AI industry, including state Sen. Nily Rozic and Assembly Members Clyde Vanel and Alex Bores. But no Republicans signed on to the letter, and neither did the leaders of the state Senate or Assembly.

New York has been a national leader in AI regulation. In 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Loading Act, a bill introduced by Gonzalez that requires state agencies to disclose their use of AI tools. This year’s state budget included a provision, based on a bill sponsored by Rozic and Vanel, that requires AI chatbots to disclose to users that they are not human. 

The Legislature is currently considering additional AI-related bills, including Gonzalez’s New York AI Act (which aims to prevent algorithmic discrimination by AI tools) and the RAISE Act sponsored by Bores and state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (which would require AI companies to implement safety plans when developing risky, cutting-edge AI models).

Even more AI-related bills are on the horizon; Bores, a computer engineer who previously worked at the AI company Palantir, has proposed at least a half-dozen bills regulating various aspects of the technology. 

New York lawmakers are not the only ones concerned about the House GOP’s attempt to block states from regulating AI. Earlier this week, Gonzalez joined state lawmakers from Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Minnesota and Vermont for an open letter calling on Americans to urge their congressional representatives to oppose the 10-year moratorium on state regulation of AI.

Supporters of the proposed moratorium argue that allowing individual states to craft their own bills regulating AI companies would subject American AI companies to excessive red tape. They believe that Congress should regulate the AI industry at a national level and preempt states from passing their own laws regulating the industry.

But opponents of the moratorium – including the more than 50 lawmakers who signed on to Gonzalez’s letter – point out that Congress has so far failed to pass any AI regulation, forcing states like New York to take matters into their own hands.

“While the federal government struggles to act on regulating artificial intelligence, states are leading the way, enacting legislation to protect Americans from the multitude of threats posed by rapid technological advances in automated decision-making systems,” the letter reads.