New York Governor Hochul Uses AI to Audit State Regulations, Targets Obsolete Laws
Gov. Hochul deploys AI to review state laws in months rather than years, identifying outdated regulations like a $25 dog-hunting fee.
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New York’s AI-Powered Regulatory Audit
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is deploying artificial intelligence to systematically review and modernize the state’s regulatory framework. According to The Verge AI, Hochul disclosed during a Bloomberg Odd Lots podcast interview that her administration is using AI to analyze the entirety of New York’s statutes, rules, and policies in search of outdated or redundant laws.
The accelerated timeline is significant. Hochul estimated that manually reviewing the state’s complete regulatory inventory would have consumed approximately five years of dedicated staff effort. Using AI, her team completed the same scope in a couple of months—a roughly 30x compression in calendar time.
Examples of Obsolete Laws Identified
The audit has already surfaced regulations that no longer reflect modern governance priorities. Hochul cited two specific examples: a $25 fee requirement for dog-hunting permits and a legal stipulation mandating that pregnant workers obtain permits before working overnight shifts. These discoveries illustrate the kind of legacy legislative language that accumulates in state law codes over decades without active review or repeal.
The identification of such rules creates a mandate for legislative action—Hochul and state agencies now have a concrete inventory of candidates for deregulation and modernization.
Political Context: Data Centers vs. Internal AI Adoption
This regulatory modernization effort sits in apparent tension with Hochul’s recent policy move. Earlier in July 2026, New York became the first state to implement a moratorium on new hyperscale AI data centers for up to a year. State lawmakers have signaled plans to develop regulations protecting residents from rising utility costs and threats to natural resources posed by large-scale AI compute infrastructure.
The distinction is noteworthy: Hochul is simultaneously restricting AI infrastructure development within the state’s borders while embracing AI adoption for internal government efficiency. She framed this duality during the podcast, stating: “I want a government that’s not on your back but on your side, and using AI has been powerful to do that.”
Why This Matters
This case demonstrates how generalist AI systems are being repurposed for domain-specific regulatory work—a use case that could reshape how state and local governments approach legislative maintenance. If other states replicate this approach, the bottleneck of manual legal review could be substantially reduced, accelerating the deprecation of obsolete statutes across the US.
However, the example also raises questions about AI hallucination and false positives in regulatory contexts. Hochul did not detail the validation mechanisms her team employed to ensure the AI-identified laws were actually obsolete rather than context-dependent or intentionally precautionary. As more states adopt similar tools, governance agencies will need to establish verification standards to prevent AI systems from recommending the repeal of regulations that serve specific constituent interests.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hochul using AI to do?
Her administration is deploying AI to audit every state rule, regulation, and policy to identify outdated or obsolete legislation that no longer serves practical purposes.
How much time has this saved?
According to Hochul, the AI-driven review completed in a couple of months work that would have required approximately five years of staff time through manual review.
What examples of outdated laws did she mention?
Hochul cited a $25 fee for dog hunting permits and a requirement that pregnant workers obtain permits to work after midnight as examples of obsolete regulations her team identified.
Does this contradict New York's AI data center moratorium?
Hochul recently signed a one-year pause on hyperscale AI data centers in the state to protect utilities and natural resources, while using AI internally for government modernization—a distinction between regulating external AI infrastructure and adopting AI tools for state operations.