Comment by Heather Curry

The Business Software Alliance is concerned by the New York State Senate’s passage of the New York AI Act. BSA is committed to helping policymakers develop legislation to address high-risk uses of AI, but this bill advanced through the New York Senate in a rushed process that failed to take stakeholder feedback – favorable or unfavorable – into account. This legislation, which would go far beyond what has been enacted in California or the European Union, is not ready for serious consideration by the Assembly. It conflates the roles of different actors along the AI value chain, holding companies legally responsible for actions that may be taken by others. It also establishes an extensive and unworkable third-party audit regime and fragmented enforcement through private lawsuits. In a similar vein, while the RAISE Act is intended to address worthwhile considerations around AI safety for large frontier models, it relies on a vague and unworkable incident reporting scheme. The bill would also undermine safety protections for frontier models by requiring developers of those models to publish their safety protocols – creating a roadmap for bad actors to exploit. BSA still has significant concerns about this legislation, and will engage with Gov. Hochul to share our views.