Establishes understanding artificial intelligence responsibility act requiring developers of covered models to be strictly liable for certain injuries.

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8833

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 9, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. BORES -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Science and Technology

        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in  relation  to  establishing
          the understanding artificial intelligence act

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
     2  45-A to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 45-A
     4                    UNDERSTANDING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
     5                                     ACT
     6  Section 1510. Short title.
     7          1511. Definitions.
     8          1512. Artificial intelligence; liability for injuries.
     9    § 1510. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited  as  the
    10  "understanding artificial intelligence act".
    11    § 1511. Definitions. For purposes of this article, the following terms
    12  shall have the following meanings:
    13    1.  "Artificial  intelligence"  means  an  engineered or machine-based
    14  system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can,  for  explicit
    15  or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate
    16  outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.
    17    2.  "Covered  model"  means  an  artificial intelligence model trained
    18  using a quantity of computing power greater than 10�26 integer or float-
    19  ing-point operations, the cost of  which  exceeds  one  hundred  million
    20  dollars when calculated using the average market prices of cloud compute
    21  at the start of training as reasonably assessed by the developer.
    22    3.  "Developer" means a person that performs the initial training of a
    23  covered model by training a model using a sufficient quantity of comput-
    24  ing power and cost.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02147-04-5
        A. 8833                             2

     1    4. "Fine-tuning" means  adjusting  the  model  weights  of  a  trained
     2  covered model by exposing it to additional data.
     3    §  1512.  Artificial  intelligence;  liability for injuries. 1. Except
     4  with respect to any causes  of  action  for  defamation,  developers  of
     5  covered  models  shall  be  strictly liable, regardless of the degree of
     6  care they exercised, for all injuries to a non-user of the covered model
     7  that satisfy the actual harm element of an ordinary negligence claim if:
     8    (a) those injuries are factually and proximately caused by  a  covered
     9  model  that  engages in conduct that, if undertaken by an adult human of
    10  sound mind, would satisfy the elements of negligence or any  intentional
    11  tort or crime; and
    12    (b)  that  conduct was neither intended nor could have been reasonably
    13  anticipated by: (i) the user of the model; or (ii) any intermediary that
    14  fine-tuned, scaffolded, or otherwise modified the model.
    15    2. (a) For the purposes of this section, for any torts for  which  the
    16  mental  state  of  the alleged tortfeasor is relevant to elements of the
    17  tort, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the artificial intel-
    18  ligence system satisfies the relevant mental state if the finder of fact
    19  determines by a preponderance of the evidence that, if a natural  person
    20  under  similar  circumstances to the artificial intelligence system took
    21  actions similar to those taken by the  artificial  intelligence  system,
    22  that natural person would have acted with the relevant mental state.
    23    (b)  Unless  the  court determines that the presumption established in
    24  paragraph (a) of this  subdivision  is  not  applicable,  if  the  party
    25  against  whom  the  presumption  is invoked presents evidence tending to
    26  rebut the presumption established in paragraph (a) of this  subdivision,
    27  the  court  shall  instruct the finder of fact to find that the presumed
    28  facts exist unless the finder of fact is  persuaded  that  the  presumed
    29  facts do not exist.
    30    (c)  For  the purposes of this section, it shall not be a defense that
    31  artificial intelligence systems are incapable of having mental states.
    32    3. (a) It shall be an affirmative defense to strict liability  if  the
    33  developer  establishes  that the covered model satisfied the standard of
    34  care applicable to humans who perform the same function that the covered
    35  model was engaged in performing when its conduct  allegedly  caused  the
    36  plaintiff's injury.
    37    (b)  It  shall  be  an  affirmative defense to strict liability if the
    38  developer establishes that the injuries to a non-user  as  described  in
    39  this section were a result of a capabilities failure, in which a covered
    40  model  falls  short of performing the intended or reasonably anticipated
    41  performance of the user, but the conduct of the system would not satisfy
    42  the elements of negligence or any intentional tort or crime  if  engaged
    43  in by an adult human of sound mind.
    44    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.