Washington still hasn't passed an AI safety law. New York City, where AI giants are expanding fastest, is writing its own

(Credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Congress spent nearly a decade holding hearings on artificial intelligence while passing almost nothing to make it safer, and the New York City Council now wants to find out whether a city can do what Washington has not. On Friday, Council Speaker Julie Menin unveiled a package of bills that would require AI systems sold in the city to pass outside validation and carry a kill switch, pay whistleblowers who report violations, and let New Yorkers sue AI companies when jailbroken tools harm them. The bills will be heard on October 5 at a Committee of the Whole hearing of all 51 council members.

“We obviously are not in any way looking to stifle innovation. We want to ensure that New York stays the AI capital of the world, but with that comes responsibility,” City Council Speaker Julie Menin told Fortune. “I don’t believe these two ideas are mutually exclusive at all. In fact, I think they go hand in hand.”