Hochul Outlines NY Tech Plan: Teen Limits, Data Center Pause — SkimNews
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- Kathy Hochul said New York regulations bar social media notifications for users under 18 between midnight and 6 AM, restrict "addictive algorithms," require automatic privacy controls via age verification, and limit teen access to AI chatbots with disclaimers that they're not real people.
- Meta recently reached a settlement with dozens of states including New York restricting teen use of platforms like Instagram; Hochul said companies wouldn't self-regulate without pressure and signaled more restrictions may follow.
- Hochul signed a one-year moratorium on data center construction in July and said she's evaluating what would make them "a workable proposition" before the pause expires.
- New York's ghost gun law bars 3D printers from printing gun parts and is being challenged by Cody Wilson, who runs the largest database of 3D-printable gun files and is "Hochulizing" files to show the ban is "technically toothless"; Hochul pushed back on him directly in the interview.
- Hochul said she designed her governor's office org chart on a legal pad five years ago after inheriting the role during a hurricane, and joked she would now "ask Claude or ChatGPT for some recommendations."
- Widespread age verification required to enforce the teen protections will effectively end adult online anonymity, a trade-off Hochul defended as necessary because "parents aren't expected to understand every platform where their kids may go."
- New York has been named the number-one job creator for tech jobs in the country, surpassing California, per Hochul, who contrasted her "surgical" regulatory approach with Mayor Zohran Mamdani's more confrontational stance toward tech companies.
Why it matters: New York's regulatory template — mandatory age verification that effectively eliminates adult online anonymity, paired with a one-year pause on data center construction — is now anchored in a Meta settlement covering dozens of states, giving Hochul's preferences real national reach. The interview also reveals a governor publicly open to using AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT) in shaping government operations, a small but notable signal about AI adoption inside statehouses.
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