NYAG urges corporate whistleblowers to report AI safety concerns

In recent weeks, the news has been filled with reports about potential risks to the public from the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI). Yet there continues to be a lack of consensus about the appropriate level of government intervention in the sector.

While that debate continues, the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) is encouraging employees of AI developers to share any concerns or knowledge they may have about unsafe AI development directly with government investigators.

The NYAG AI whistleblower portal

On September 17, 2026, the NYAG issued an industry alert urging workers to report “information about dangerous and potentially illegal activity” involving companies that develop AI technology. The announcement directed putative whistleblowers to the NYAG’s online whistleblower portal, which allows anonymous submissions via the Tor Browser.

The alert casts a wide net in terms of the categories of AI whistleblower complaints the NYAG will investigate, considering “the cybersecurity, economic, and other safety risks posed by emerging AI technology.”

The announcement highlighted the enforcement authority the NYAG will have once New York’s Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act goes into effect on January 1, 2027. The new state law will impose public disclosure and reporting requirements on some of the largest developers of cutting-edge AI models. As noted in our client alert on the RAISE Act, an earlier version of the legislation had included whistleblower provisions that were removed from the final version.

Why it matters

AI developers are encouraged to prepare for increased investigative activity by NYAG in light of rising public concern about emerging risks from the technology. As DLA Piper has explored in other recent publications, such as those focusing on California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois, state legislatures have been highly active in passing AI-related laws, and state enforcers are expected to ramp up their activity as the new laws take effect.

The availability of the NYAG’s anonymous whistleblower portal may encourage employees and others with insider information to report concerns externally before, or instead of, using internal reporting mechanisms, further complicating the ability of companies involved in the development of AI technologies to manage risk.

Key takeaways

Companies developing AI may consider the following:

• Seeking effective AI governance and compliance approaches that enable efficient incorporation of new legal requirements as they come into effect across the country
  
  
• Reviewing and updating policies and procedures relating to responsible and ethical AI development, deployment, and use
  
  
• Ensuring that they have a robust AI incident response program and that employees know their roles and responsibilities when something goes wrong
  
  
• Evaluating internal reporting channels to ensure that employees know how to raise concerns
  
  
• Reinforcing anti-retaliation policies
  
  
• Assessing investigation protocols to ensure putative whistleblower reports are addressed appropriately, whether they arrive internally or externally

Contact

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