New York · Senate Bill · 2025–2026 Regular Session
SB9028
New York Senate Bill 9028 — An Act to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting employers from engaging in discrimination on the basis of a protected class when using artificial intelligence in certain employment practices

Status ● Introduced Effective N/A Passage Likelihood L

WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 2 REQUIREMENT TYPES

How Is This Bill Enforced

Enforcement Authority
Enforcement by the New York State Division of Human Rights, which is directed to adopt rules and regulations for implementation and enforcement. Enforcement may also proceed through the existing Executive Law § 297 complaint process. No explicit private right of action is created by this bill, though the existing Human Rights Law framework permits individuals to file complaints with the Division or elect to proceed in court.
Private Right of Action
No private right of action. Enforcement is exclusive to the designated authority.
Penalties
The bill does not create independent damages provisions. Remedies would flow from the existing New York Human Rights Law enforcement framework (Executive Law § 297), which provides for compensatory damages, back pay, reinstatement, injunctive relief, and civil penalties. Attorney's fees are available under the existing framework for court-elected proceedings.

What This Bill Requires

Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.

Statutory Text
Analysis & Obligations
Exec. Law § 292(43)–(44)
Definitions of artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence

(43) The term "artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence includes generative artificial intelligence.Exec. Law § 292(43)" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence includes generative artificial intelligence.Exec. Law § 292(43) includes generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligenceThe term "generative artificial intelligence" means an automated computing system that, when prompted with human prompts, descriptions, or queries, can produce outputs that simulate human-produced content, including, but not limited to, the following: (a) textual outputs, such as short answers, essays, poetry, or longer compositions or answers; (b) image outputs, such as fine art, photographs, conceptual art, diagrams, and other images; (c) multimedia outputs, such as audio or video in the form of compositions, songs, or short-form or long-form audio or video; and (d) other content that would be otherwise produced by human means.Exec. Law § 292(44).

(44) The term "generative artificial intelligenceGenerative artificial intelligenceThe term "generative artificial intelligence" means an automated computing system that, when prompted with human prompts, descriptions, or queries, can produce outputs that simulate human-produced content, including, but not limited to, the following: (a) textual outputs, such as short answers, essays, poetry, or longer compositions or answers; (b) image outputs, such as fine art, photographs, conceptual art, diagrams, and other images; (c) multimedia outputs, such as audio or video in the form of compositions, songs, or short-form or long-form audio or video; and (d) other content that would be otherwise produced by human means.Exec. Law § 292(44)" means an automated computing system that, when prompted with human prompts, descriptions, or queries, can produce outputs that simulate human-produced content, including, but not limited to, the following: (a) textual outputs, such as short answers, essays, poetry, or longer compositions or answers; (b) image outputs, such as fine art, photographs, conceptual art, diagrams, and other images; (c) multimedia outputs, such as audio or video in the form of compositions, songs, or short-form or long-form audio or video; and (d) other content that would be otherwise produced by human means.

Section 1 of the bill adds two new defined terms to Executive Law § 292: artificial intelligence (subdivision 43) and generative artificial intelligence (subdivision 44). The AI definition tracks the OECD/NIST formulation — a machine-based system that infers from inputs how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions. Generative AI is defined as a subset: an automated computing system that produces outputs simulating human-produced content across text, image, multimedia, and other modalities. These definitions scope the substantive prohibition in Section 2.

Exec. Law § 296(23)
Prohibition on AI-based employment discrimination and notice requirement
Deployer

(23)(a) 1 It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to use artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence includes generative artificial intelligence.Exec. Law § 292(43) for recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or the terms, privileges, or conditions of employment that has the effect of subjecting employees to discrimination on the basis of age, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, or status as a victim of domestic violence or to use zip codes as a proxy for such protected classes.

(23)(b) 2 It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to fail to provide notice to an employee that such employer is using artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence includes generative artificial intelligence.Exec. Law § 292(43) for the purposes described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.

(23)(c) The division shall adopt any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this subdivision, including, but not limited to, rules on the circumstances and conditions that require notice, the time period for providing such notice and the means for providing such notice.

Section 2 of the bill adds a new subdivision 23 to Executive Law § 296, creating two distinct obligations. Paragraph (a) makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to use artificial intelligence in recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or terms, privileges, or conditions of employment in a manner that discriminates on the basis of any protected class enumerated in the New York Human Rights Law. It also explicitly prohibits using zip codes as a proxy for protected classes — a notable provision targeting algorithmic redlining.

Paragraph (b) creates a separate unlawful discriminatory practice: failure to provide notice to an employee that the employer is using AI for covered employment purposes. Paragraph (c) directs the Division of Human Rights to adopt implementing regulations covering the circumstances requiring notice, the time period for providing notice, and the means of notice.

Compliance actions 2 items
1
Employers must not use artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence includes generative artificial intelligence.Exec. Law § 292(43) for recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or the terms, privileges, or conditions of employment in a manner that has the effect of discriminating against employees on the basis of age, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, or status as a victim of domestic violence. Employers must not use zip codes as a proxy for any of these protected classes.
H-02
2
Employers must provide notice to employees that the employer is using artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence includes generative artificial intelligence.Exec. Law § 292(43) for recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or the terms, privileges, or conditions of employment. The specific circumstances requiring notice, the time period for providing notice, and the means of notice will be established by Division of Human Rights rulemaking.
H-01.3
§ 3
Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.

Section 3 provides that the act takes effect on the 180th day after it becomes law. No staged or sectional effective dates apply.

Passage Likelihood

Low
Status Introduced
Chamber No passage
Committee No action
Majority party No
Bipartisan No
Prior session None

Legislative History

2026-01-23 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Entry Last Reviewed

2026-05-20
AI generated