Businesses Would Report AI Layoffs to New York Under Hochul Plan

New York will be the first state to require notifications by businesses of AI-related job losses under an executive action Gov. Kathy Hochul will announce Tuesday.

Her annual State of the State address will also include executive actions to provide $20 million for minority startups alongside plans to increase workforce training in artificial intelligence amid fears of mass job losses in the future.

The Democratic governor has touted the potential economic benefits from the technology while resisting efforts by state lawmakers to impose restrictions aimed at preventing possible abuses.

Tracking layoffs could have a wider effect on how policymakers across the country approach AI, according to Kevin Frazier, a scholar at St. Thomas University in Florida, who researches AI in the workforce.

“New York’s leadership on this issue would be a great start to increasing popular awareness of the real effects of AI on our workforce,” he said in an email. “The current debate around the short- and long-term effects of AI on the labor force tends to rest on speculation or the lessons learned from prior waves of technological expansion.”

Under its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification system, New York requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide at least 90 days notice to the state Department of Labor if they plan to close facilities, relocate, or lay off more 25 or more employees. That information then becomes publicly available.

A Hochul spokesperson couldn’t provide a timetable for implementing the change.

A dozen other states—including California, New Jersey, Maryland and Michigan—have WARN systems in addition to the federal government. None of them require businesses to explicitly say AI was the reason for layoffs, according to an analysis by Frazier.

Other AI Proposals

Hochul also aims to increase opportunities in the growing AI sector through other executive actions, none of which will require legislative approval.

Empire State Development, a public agency controlled by Hochul, will launch an initiative to give college students a stipend while pursuing online courses related to the technology.

She also plans to combine $10 million of state money with another $10 million provided by International Business Machines Corp. and Armory Square Ventures to help people representing racial and ethnic minorities launch startups.

The state will also provide more training for small businesses to adopt AI through its Entrepreneurship Assistance Centers. State workers will also receive increased training with the technology.

Hochul’s last year secured $275 million in state funding for a $400 supercomputer to be located at the University at Buffalo through a partnership with universities called Empire AI. She also successfully pushed for new laws addressing deepfakes made with AI.

“New York is poised to lead the nation in the responsible use of artificial intelligence,” Hochul said in a statement.