Charting the Future of AI in NY: A Conversation with Congressman Joe Morelle and NYC Founders
The message at yesterday’s conversation with Congressman Joe Morelle and NYC AI founders on the future of artificial intelligence in New York was clear: regulation is coming, and startups need a seat at the table.
Tech:NYC, M13, and Washington D.C.-based Engine hosted the discussion at M13’s offices in Manhattan. We kicked things off with a fireside chat between Rep. Morelle and Tech:NYC President and CEO Julie Samuels, followed by a panel featuring AI founders from Maple, Polimorphic, and Sitch.
“When we talk about AI in New York, we're really talking about the applications of AI, who's actually using it, how people are using it, who's paying for it,” Julie said. “It's not so theoretical here, but it is really practical here. And that's the New York way.”
Highlights from the Fireside Chat
Rep. Morelle laid out a pragmatic view of AI regulation:
Balance is key: Regulation must protect the public without stifling innovation. “How do we make sure that the development of whatever it is, technology, new innovations, that it's done so that there are inherent protections built in for the public, they're not victimized,” he said. “At the same time, how do you make sure that entrepreneurs and innovators have enough runway to be able to do what they do best, which is to build new products, build new services, and make use of extraordinary technology.”
Congress must step up: “We need to take responsibility here,” Morelle said, while acknowledging Congress has been slow. “This is exactly why we were built.” But, he noted that these decisions have to be made with input from the tech community. “We have to consult with people, because I don’t think most members of Congress are steeped in AI technology development well enough to make those judgments,” he said.
AI misuse is real: Rep. Morelle called for civil and criminal liability for deepfake abuse, citing bills he’s pushing to address AI-generated pornography and misinformation in political ads.
Call to action: Rep. Morelle urged more structured input from startups, especially those without dedicated government affairs teams. “You need to have those cutting edge companies, as well as the larger companies that are investing, to really have a breadth of opinion,” he said.
Panel: Founders on AI, Regulation, and the NYC Tech Scene
The panel brought real-world examples to the conversation:
Aidan Chau (Maple) is building voice AI to handle restaurant calls. His tech isn’t replacing jobs, but rather keeping restaurants in business longer.
Parth Shah (Polimorphic) uses AI to make government services more accessible. The company recently enabled a conversation in Bengali between a constituent and a government employee to help the constituent navigate estate court filings — something that could not have been possible without AI
Chad DePue (Sitch) is applying AI to matchmaking, using the “grandmother-as-matchmaker” model with smart, user-guided connections.
Policy takeaways from the panel:
AI policy should be risk- and context-based, not one-size-fits-all. A calendar plugin at the dentist is not a diagnostic AI for healthcare.
Founders warned that over-regulation risks stifling startups: Larger tech companies can afford compliance, but startups can’t.
Access to foundation models (like GPT or Gemini), as well as open-source models, enables startups to move fast and solve novel problems. Restricting them could kill early-stage innovation and threaten thousands of NY-based startups.
Why It Matters
The event underscored why New York matters in the national AI conversation:
Over 2,000 AI startups call New York home.
NYC employs 40,000+ AI professionals.
But certain AI bills — like the RAISE Act — would chill innovation and have real, negative impacts on AI startups in NYC, putting New York at a competitive disadvantage on the global stage, not just in tech but in all the industries core to our identity.
Rep. Morelle made it clear: the path forward requires real conversations between lawmakers and builders. Yesterday was a powerful example of that.
Photos credit: Erica Price