AI Frontier Institute

Excludes a production using artificial intelligence or autonomous vehicles in a manner which results in the displacement of employees whose salaries are qualified expenses from the definition of qualified film for the purposes of the empire state film production credit.

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New York Assembly Bill 6180 (2025-2026 session) has not been enacted. It was referred to the Ways and Means Committee on February 26, 2025, and referred there again on January 7, 2026. If enacted, it would amend paragraph 3 of subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law. That paragraph defines "qualified film" for the Empire State film production credit. The bill would add a new exclusion: a production that uses artificial intelligence or autonomous vehicles in a way that displaces employees whose salaries are qualified expenses would not count as a qualified film. The exclusion would not apply if a current collective bargaining agreement covering those employees permits the replacement. The existing exclusion for variety entertainment series would be renumbered from (iii) to (iv), and the cross-reference to it would be updated. The other parts of the definition would stay the same. These include the minimum budgets ($1 million in Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk and the five New York City boroughs, and $250,000 elsewhere) and the exclusions for documentaries, reality programs and similar content. Section 2 says the act would take effect immediately.

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