Fostering Innovation in New York State

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on Bloomberg TV with Caroline Hyde. The Governor discussed how she’s ensuring New York is a leader in innovation, from her investments in Empire AI, to her all-of-the-above approach to energy policy, and everything she’s doing to attract talent to New York.

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: Thank you, Scarlet. And I can't think of a better person to be sitting down with about how AI is embraced by this state, by this city. Governor Hochul, thank you for being with us today.

Governor Hochul: Thank you.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: And I think of 2024, when you first announced Empire AI — when you think about being at the forefront of transformational change that AI is going to bring, what is your answer for what New York's competitive edge is?

Governor Hochul: This has taken us to a whole new level. This was important to me. I'm a New Yorker, I'm competitive, I want to be number one. And so, we saw the great potential from friends that I've had in the industry. Tom Secunda and others brought an idea to me that we could have this incredible, first-in-the-nation partnership between academia, state government and the private sector.

So literally, the idea was talked about over breakfast in October. I had it in my State of the State three months later, and was able to secure $400 million from the Legislature. We had to persuade them that this was in the public interest. And I will tell you, we now added another $90 million — we're over almost $500 million invested, and it has exceeded all expectations.

And so, I put together an Emerging Technologies Task Force that is co-chaired by the CEO of IBM, as well as the CEO of Girls Who Code because I want to make sure that we're diversifying the workforce. I want to see more women, I want to see people of color, and that's why New York is such an attractive place all across the world.

But in our AI space, I wanted these to be the researchers, the thinkers, the innovators solving some of society's greatest problems. I literally spent a day out this weekend up in Buffalo, my hometown — saw what they're doing there, and the part that made me so proud was that we're about to announce, in a few months, our AI beta, which is 11 times more powerful than what I already have now with our alpha — we just launched.

We're already going to next level opportunities in a very short time, but they're also bringing in more people to our state — and this was important to me. More of the brilliant people, the professors we're attracting from other universities. They have so many students who want to become part of this — not just UB, because this is for all of our universities across the state. They all want a piece of this because they can do their research and their PhD work with power that no other student in the country will have.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: You're talking about talent there and you have lent, in particular, to the labor that's needed. Energy's needed.

Governor Hochul: Yes.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: How do we have to embrace fossil fuels and nuclear if we're going to have the resources for this?

Governor Hochul: I have an all-of-the-above approach, but first of all, one of the reasons Empire AI is housed up at the University of Buffalo is that I have an enormous amount of supply of hydroelectric power from the Niagara plant there — that powers about 25 percent of our energy.

Another part of 25 percent of our Upstate energy is nuclear already. I want to add more nuclear. I'll be the first Governor in a generation and a very rare Democratic Governor who says, “I can't assume that we're going to have the power available now. I need sustainability, reliability and affordability, and I'm going to do that.” And we're also looking at natural gas and other areas, but we have wind and solar–

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: You fought for wind.

Governor Hochul: I saved wind.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: How?

Governor Hochul: Yeah, I saved wind.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: How? What did you say to President Trump to keep wind?

Governor Hochul: I said that you have 1,500 people who just lost their jobs when you shut it down. This will power 500,000 homes of clean energy in Brooklyn. But, back to those people who lost their jobs, “Mr. President, a lot of them are from Long Island. I think a lot of them voted for you. So why don't you tell them that we'll lift the stop work order. Stop this poor company from aging $15 million a week, get them back going again,” and we were successful.”

But I also said, “I'm looking at an all-of-the-above approach to energy, so work with me. Find a faster way to get me nuclear too, Mr. President, because seven of the 10 years that it takes to get nuclear approvals is at the federal government level.” I said, “I'll look at my streamline processes, you streamline yours — let's get this done sooner.”

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: What's interesting is you're putting people first and you've been very vocal about the safety element of AI. I want to go back to what's on your desk at the moment — the RAISE Act. Are you going to sign it off? Because this is about protecting foundational models and ensuring that they're secure in their security.

Governor Hochul: Right, right. I'm looking at — I have to be honest, our policy is when there's a bill on my desk, we don't talk about it until I'm ready to sign. I have over 900 bills that are on my desk. They have to be signed or vetoed by the end of the year. Obviously we're looking at that seriously, but we have been leaders in protecting our children, in particular, from AI chatbots and making sure that when someone starts to talk about suicidal thoughts, that the platform will provide them resources and support.

And just trying to find different ways because this is the whole new frontier, right? It's hard to know what the challenges and the problems are going to be when you're just starting out. But we have to be that forward thinking. I have to protect New Yorkers as well as our businesses, but let the tech industry know this is the place you want to be. We're innovative. We're smart. We have the talent. And I'll make sure we break down barriers to your success.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: Is there a worry from those foundational LLM creators — the likes of OpenAI — about that regulation?

Governor Hochul: Well, I think people prefer to have a federal regulation. I mean, think about the responsibility of the federal government. These companies don't know boundaries. They're all over the planet, so it's hard when one state has a set of rules, another state does, another state. I don't think that's a model for inspiring innovation, but a lot of companies should be adopting these internal controls themselves — that's always one step they can take to assure people in government that they've done what is necessary.

But in the absence of that, the federal government needs to be looking at these policies as well.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: These startups, these foundational LLM model creators and big business also really care, not just about regulation, but about taxation. And with the new bill coming from President Trump, there might be a hole coming in the next year or so. How are you thinking about that landscape for the people who you want to come here and build AI for the Empire?

Governor Hochul: Right, right. I am very sensitive to competitiveness with other states. I've said I don't want to raise income taxes on high-net-worth people. I want them to know that New York is a place where we want to foster innovation — be open to your success, because your success means you're hiring more people. You're putting more people to work, and to the extent that you're willing to seek out future employees in some of the neighborhoods that have been underserved.

This is what Micron is doing as part of our deal to get the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility investment in American history. $100 million–

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: That's out in Syracuse, right?

Governor Hochul: Out in Syracuse. I landed that in my early days as Governor. I said, “I'm not losing this one,” but part of it is they had to have a green energy policy, sustainability — and they're also looking for talent and changing curriculums in the schools around Syracuse, some of the neighborhoods where kids would never have a chance to have these jobs. And Micron — because they have a strong sense of social responsibility, they're partnering with us to help that. So companies that show that kind of enlightenment to me, we'll open a lot of doors for them.

You take care of my people, we'll take care of you.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: And you are thinking about that from a whole state perspective, but some of the founders and CEOs I speak to here in the city, well they're worried about the next leader of the city. They're thinking about the mayoral candidate, they're thinking about Mamdani in particular, and he's got high tax ideas. How are you convincing them to stay here in the state?

Governor Hochul: Well, they need to know one thing, is that the City of New York — as powerful and mighty as it is — it's still a subdivision of the State. So any tax increase has to come across my desk first. So I will work with whomever the mayor is as long as they want to help foster my policies, which is pro-growth, pro-business.

And if it's Mamdani, I will work closely with him to help him understand that when we want to solve society's problems — and there are many — that we also have the resources to do it. And so, that means letting people know that we appreciate you being here. You're building companies, you're creating wealth, you're hiring people, you're supporting our cultures and our philanthropies, and that we welcome you to be here and know that this is your home.

So I'll continue on that effort, but we do have a lot of challenges on affordability. I think he hit a nerve. He hit a real nerve, which is why people want this. At this point in the polls, they are showing an inclination toward supporting him because he's talking about what I've been talking about for a long time — is that people feel like they're just not getting ahead.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: Yeah. A sensitive question, and I know you say time and time again you don't want to influence the vote, but would you lend him your endorsement?

Governor Hochul: I'm having conversations about all kinds of issues. There are a lot of very strong philosophical differences. I am a staunch capitalist. And so, I need to know that people can have a certain philosophy, but you got to govern in reality.

And the reality is that this is the financial center of the world. We want to make sure that this is known as the tech center of the world, the innovation capital, and I want to make sure we inspire people to come here. Where I do have fear is that the policies out of Washington with Donald Trump is going to stymie that because 47 percent of new startups in the tech space are founded by people who are foreign born.

So if those students stop coming to our universities and we stop attracting people who are the most brilliant in the world, they don't feel that there's an open door for them to be here in the State of New York. Well they're here, welcome here, but not in our country, and there's barriers to that.

That's something we have to overcome. And I'm really fearful about the long-term effect of that on our ability to remain competitive with the rest of the world when these people are being recruited — people who are already here to go to other countries upon graduation or not come here in the first place, how do we overcome that? And that's what troubles me greatly.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: Very briefly, a way you could drive revenue — casinos. Could you have one in Manhattan?

Governor Hochul: I'm not allowed to have my thumb on the scale on that. The way it's set up, there's all sorts of prohibitions, but it will drive money. I think it's going to be a real boost for tourism as well in the right place. So there'll be three of them. And so, I'm looking forward very much to welcoming those dollars.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: It's about tourism, it's about talent, it's about Empire AI. It's been wonderful having you.

Governor Hochul: Thank you very much, I appreciate that.

Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV: Thank you very much, Governor Hochul.