Tech Coalition Spends Up to $25K to Fight NY AI Bill That Just Became Law

A coalition of tech companies and academic institutions spent tens of thousands of dollars on an ad campaign opposing New York's landmark AI safety bill, only for a version of it to be signed into law days ago. According to Meta's Ad Library, the campaign cost between $17,000 and $25,000 in the past month and may have reached more than two million people.

The closely watched bill, officially called the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act (RAISE Act), was recently signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul. The law mandates that companies developing large-scale AI models—such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google—must establish and report on clear safety plans and transparency protocols.

The ad blitz represents a significant, public-facing effort to influence AI legislation. As reported by The Verge, the campaign ran on Meta's platforms, aiming to shape public opinion against the bill. Despite the financial investment and its broad reach of over two million users, the effort ultimately didn't prevent the bill from becoming law, signaling a win for regulators in a key battleground state.