Extinction riskPublic officeState Senator, New York State Senate1 entry on the record

Andrew Gounardes

New York State Senator who sponsored the RAISE Act, the state’s frontier AI safety law, and who with four fellow state legislators warned that a catastrophe could result from the labs’ rush to build highly capable AI before solving alignment and safety.

Roles

1 Jan 2019 – presentState Senator, New York State SenateRepresented the 22nd district until the 2022 redistricting and the 26th since 2023; Senate sponsor of the RAISE Act (S6953B), New York's frontier AI safety law, signed 19 December 2025 as Chapter 699.Source →

On the record

3 Sept 2026 · Statement · Office of Senator Andrew Gounardes
If researchers cannot reliably prevent their models from going rogue, much of our digital infrastructure and the essential systems that keep our society running are at risk. … Given the urgency, we call on them to work together to eliminate the risk that a catastrophe will result from their rush to build highly capable AI systems before solving problems of alignment and safety.
State Senator, New York State Senate at the time
Signed with Alex Bores (NY Assembly), Daniel Didech and Mary Edly-Allen (Illinois) and Scott Wiener (California); dated 3 September on its face and on his own release, published by Wiener's office on 4 September, calling on frontier labs to establish a Mutually Agreed Pacing Framework verified by third parties.
Lawmakers Behind Strictest US AI Laws Urge Tech Companies to Slow Down →