State Attorney General Letitia James Thursday urged workers with information about potential dangers at companies developing artificial intelligence to report concerns to her office’s new secure whistleblower site.
With concern about AI rising fast, James said anyone can confidentially report unsafe and illegal conduct that may put New Yorkers at risk without risk of retaliation.
“The power and promise of artificial intelligence are no excuse for using this technology to break the law or put New Yorkers at risk,” James said. “Those developing AI have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe. I encourage anyone with information about emerging AI technologies that are violating the law to contact my office.”
The site is available at ag.ny.gov/i-want/use-whistleblower-portal.
James spoke out just days after several leading AI industry voices raised concerns about the danger posed by the technology.
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk and other prominent industry leaders have said in recent days that AI’s development needs to slow down. The consensus came after an Anthropic researcher resigned with a dire warning about the threats the technology poses to humanity.
But obstacles, including domestic and global competition, profit motivations and pushback from President Donald Trump, could all stand in the way of a coordinated effort to rein in AI’s development.
Congress has also so far shown little appetite to regulate the technology urgently. The Republican-led House of Representatives left town this week and does not plan to return from recess until after the midterm election.
James has vowed to make New York a leader in protecting residents from emerging technologies like AI, even as the federal government has signaled it may not take action.
New York’s Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, requires large AI developers to publicly disclose their safety measures and swiftly report security and safety incidents.
James says she also has authority to address violations of New York’s SHIELD Act, which requires companies to maintain reasonable data security practices to prevent data breaches.
The state also has authority to take civil action to protect New Yorkers’ privacy, hold hackers and other fraudsters accountable, and stop violations of the law, including violations of federal laws, such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.