Robert Jackson's Record on Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Robert Jackson's Position on AI

Robert Jackson supports classroom AI restrictions and a large data center pause, with separate exceptions and legal status for his state bills and the New York City school policy he endorsed.

His role differs by instrument. He sponsored S10133, which would bar AI use in classrooms before ninth grade. On the Responsible Data Center Development Act (S10642), a bill introduced by Senator Kristen Gonzalez, he is a co-sponsor and is individually listed as an aye vote.

For the school policy, the city's September 2, 2026 announcement says he commended the restriction. According to that announcement, he endorses protecting children's independent thought and says technology must earn its place in classrooms.

Robert Jackson's Background

Robert Jackson was raised in northern Manhattan with eight siblings and attended PS186 and Benjamin Franklin High School, according to his Senate biography. He graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz.

He served as president of a community school board. His biography credits him with launching Campaign for Fiscal Equity litigation and walking 150 miles to Albany for school funding. These are descriptions from his own biography, not independently checked results.

He was elected to the New York City Council in 2001 and reelected twice. The biography lists his Council work as chairing the Education committee, co-chairing the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, and advancing pre-K expansion, teacher-layoff prevention and the Drop-Out Prevention Initiative.

He was elected district leader in 2015 and helped found Uptown Community Democrats. According to the biography, he has lived in Washington Heights since 1975.

In the Senate he represents District 31 and chairs the Civil Service and Pensions committee. His biography lists his official priorities as public education, workers' rights, climate justice and gun safety.

Robert Jackson's AI Policy Record

Robert Jackson sponsored S10133, and as of November 4, 2026, it is in Senate Education committee. The bill was introduced April 30, 2026, and its Assembly counterpart is A9190.

The operative section of S10133 says no artificial intelligence may be used in classrooms in schools before ninth grade. It defines artificial intelligence as any machine-based system that makes decisions based on algorithms, machine learning or any form of data-driven modeling.

Two exceptions apply: AI for diagnostic purposes, and explicit instruction interventions for students with disabilities, under guidance from the state education commissioner. Separately, the section does not limit teachers, administrators and other school personnel from using AI for administrative and planning purposes.

The bill title and sponsor summary describe the limit as covering most AI. The operative section has no such qualifier and names only the two exceptions and the administrative and planning carve-out. The section takes effect on the first of July after the bill becomes law.

S10642 is a different kind of rule. It regulates data centers by power demand, utility service and location, and its operative provisions do not use the term artificial intelligence. As written in the bill text dated June 1, 2026, its provisions are:

• Definitions and thresholds. A data center is one facility, or a combination of facilities under common ownership or control at the same site, that either receives electric, gas or water service from a utility or municipality, has applied or requested such service, or has otherwise caused a utility or municipality to incur an expense in providing that service, and has a peak demand of one megawatt or more used for computing infrastructure, data processing, web hosting, streaming support or related services. Manufacturing is not counted as computing infrastructure, and software publishing and streaming distribution are not counted as web hosting or streaming support. A large data center has a peak demand of 20 megawatts or more. Facilities majority-owned, operated or controlled by a public research institution and used for research are excluded.
• Permit pause. For one year after the effective date, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) may not issue a permit, certificate, registration, license or other approval to a large data center. The pause does not cover modifications, renewals or reissuances of earlier approvals, or large data centers that commenced construction on or before the effective date.
• Hearing and notice. Before DEC issues an approval, a large data center must hold at least one in-person public hearing in a host community not less than three months before the approval. Residents must get at least 30 days' notice that describes projected energy and water use and impacts, and any state or local incentives applied for or awarded. The operator pays the hearing costs of DEC and the Department of Public Service.
• Environmental impact report. DEC must prepare a report on data center development with input from the Department of Public Service, the Department of Health, the Environmental Facilities Corporation and the federally designated bulk system operator. It covers electricity, water, land use, pollution, electronic waste and public funds received by data centers, including tax incentives. It also addresses impacts within a ten-mile radius on disadvantaged communities and Indigenous nations.
• Report timing and recommendations. The draft report gets at least 120 days of public comment, with in-person hearings in at least five of the listed regions. The final report is due no later than 18 months after the article becomes law, and it must recommend measures to reduce pollution and water use and avoid new burdens on disadvantaged communities.
• Utility rate classes. The Public Service Commission (PSC) must require each electric, gas and water utility and municipality serving large data centers to create a separate service classification for them. The classification assigns those costs within the class and ensures no increases to surcharges or to basic service and other fixed charges not tied to actual energy use. The PSC must have these classifications fully implemented no later than June 1, 2030.
• Renewable energy. Each data center with a peak load of 5 megawatts or more must show through annual third-party verification that it procures renewable power, by contract or on-site generation, equal to at least one third of its electricity for 2030 through 2034. The share rises to at least two thirds for 2035 through 2039 and at least 90 percent from 2040 on. The data center must also derive as much of its energy as is technologically, environmentally and practically feasible from on-site renewable generation.
• Host community program. A new large data center, or an existing one whose major expansion adds at least 20 megawatts of load, must fund a program. The program installs eligible residential technologies such as heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, distributed solar and behind-the-meter batteries, and it develops community infrastructure. It also funds measures to prevent water pollution and strain on wastewater systems, with the PSC setting the program in a proceeding that gives priority to low- and moderate-income households and disadvantaged communities.
• Host community reporting. Each large data center must submit independently audited financial reports for the program fund to the PSC every year. The Long Island Power Authority must run a parallel program in its service territory.
• Construction labor standards. Construction of a covered data center, meaning one with a peak demand of 5 megawatts or more, is subject to prevailing wage rules, except work under a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement. The owner must require apprenticeship agreements or, for trades without apprenticeship programs, workforce training. The owner must also consider pre-apprenticeship direct-entry programs for local or disadvantaged workers, and iron and steel used in construction must be made in the United States.
• Community infrastructure wages. Community infrastructure projects costing at least $1 million are subject to prevailing wage rules. Exemptions cover owner-occupied one- and two-family homes, owners of four or fewer dwelling units, and some affordable or supportive housing projects.
• Energy efficiency goals. Within one year of the effective date, an authority under the Public Authorities Law, working with the federally designated bulk system operator, the PSC and the New York State Climate Action Council, must set energy efficiency goals for data centers, including recycling waste heat. Existing operators get two years to comply, and operators that begin within one year of the effective date get one year.

What Robert Jackson Can Change

Robert Jackson's documented roles give him sponsorship and a legislative vote, not implementing authority. The sources do not show an executive post that would put any of these rules into effect.

S10133 sits in Senate Education committee, and its Assembly counterpart is A9190, a separate bill number.

S10642 places implementation with state bodies named in its text. DEC handles the permit pause, hearings and environmental report, the PSC handles rate classes, renewable verification and the host community proceeding, and the Long Island Power Authority runs its own parallel program.

Jackson chairs Civil Service and Pensions and serves on Education, the committee where S10133 is referred. The sources do not establish that either role controls the bill's next step.

For the New York City policy, NYCPS adopted the rules. The city announcement lists Jackson among those who commended the restriction, and the sources show no implementation role for him.

Limits of Robert Jackson's AI Opposition

The sources reviewed do not document a personal position on AI beyond these three instruments. No statement in them supports a favorable position on broader AI benefits, and none is inferred here.

S10133 permits diagnostic uses and disability interventions, and it leaves administrative and planning work open. Its prohibition applies only before ninth grade, so it does not reach high school classrooms.

The S10642 pause lasts one year after the effective date, and the text does not make it a permanent ban. The pause covers only new approvals, so renewals, modifications and projects that commenced construction before the effective date fall outside it. The environmental report recommends legislation but does not itself change permit rules.

The S10642 provisions above come from the June 1, 2026 bill text. The bill page shows Senate passage through the Assembly substitute A11560, and the text of A11560 is not described here, so its wording may differ.

The city policy and S10133 do not share one scope. S10133 defines AI broadly and applies before ninth grade, while the New York City policy targets student-facing generative AI in all grades. Endorsing a policy does not show that Jackson wrote it, enacted it or opposes every AI use.

NYCPS currently reviews tools for data privacy and security through its Enterprise Request Management Application (ERMA). Its evaluation of algorithmic bias, equity and instructional effectiveness is a stated commitment, not a completed review.

Robert Jackson's Office and Election Status

As of November 4, 2026, the Senate lists Robert Jackson as senator for District 31, and that is his current office. The policy actions above carry their own dates and do not depend on that listing.

The sources reviewed do not establish the result of a 2026 election for this seat, a reported race call or a certification. The sources therefore do not support describing him as newly elected or as winning a 2026 race.

His full birth date and current age are not established in the sources reviewed, so no age is given.

Reading Robert Jackson's AI Record

The three items should be read by role and by status, and each differs. Two of the three roles come from Senate bill pages, while the endorsement comes from a city announcement.

This reading would change if a new recorded vote, final enactment, a revised operative policy or a new statement from Jackson changed the scope. The Technology in Schools Coalition is due to deliver a policy recommendation report in April 2027.

To check whether S10133 has moved since November 4, 2026, read its status and action history on the Senate bill page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Robert Jackson sponsor a bill on AI in schools?

Yes. He sponsored S10133, which would bar AI use in classrooms before ninth grade, with exceptions for diagnostic uses and for disability interventions.

As of November 4, 2026, the Senate bill page lists the bill in Senate Education committee.

Did Robert Jackson vote for the data center bill?

He is individually listed as an aye vote and as a co-sponsor of S10642, the Responsible Data Center Development Act. The bill page records a Senate roll call of 43 ayes and 17 nays, with 1 absent and 2 excused.

Is the data center bill law?

The bill page does not show it as law. It shows Senate passage through the Assembly substitute A11560, so enactment is not established by these sources.

Did Robert Jackson write New York City's school AI policy?

The sources do not establish that. NYCPS adopted the policy, and the city's announcement says Jackson commended the restriction.

Commending a policy does not show that he wrote it or that he holds a position on every AI use.

Does the data center pause cover renewals?

No. The one-year pause on new approvals excludes renewals, modifications and reissuances of earlier approvals. It also excludes large data centers that commenced construction on or before the effective date.

Is Robert Jackson's age published?

The sources reviewed do not give his full birth date or current age, so neither is stated here.