New York Governor Kathy Hochul thinks AI should be ‘less evil’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul discussed a wide range of technology policy issues in an interview on The Verge's Decoder podcast, touching on artificial intelligence regulation, data centre construction, gun control and online surveillance. The conversation comes during an election year in which tech policy has taken on outsized importance, with Hochul having taken firm stances on several contentious issues, including support for stricter rules on how teenagers use social media platforms.
Among the topics covered were a recently agreed multi-state settlement with Meta restricting teenage use of platforms such as Instagram, which Hochul backs despite concerns it could require widespread online age verification for all users, effectively ending anonymous internet use. She also defended New York's ban on 3D-printed gun parts, which has been challenged by activist Cody Wilson, and addressed a one-year moratorium on new data centre construction she signed in July, along with the state's use of Flock surveillance cameras and her views on AI development.
- Hochul discussed AI, data centres, guns and surveillance on Decoder podcast
- She backs Meta's new teen social media restrictions despite ID/anonymity trade-offs
- New York's data centre moratorium, signed in July, runs for one year
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Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that can perform tasks such as generating text or recognising patterns. Governments are debating how to set rules for these systems while allowing them to be developed and used.
Kathy Hochul is the governor of New York, a state whose policies can affect technology companies and their users. Her wider technology agenda includes rules aimed at limiting teenagers’ use of social media, restrictions on 3D-printed gun parts and a pause on new data centre construction.
These issues involve competing concerns about safety, privacy, access and the effects of technology on communities. Decisions in New York can also contribute to wider debates about how governments should regulate online services and emerging technologies.