New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a series of proposals to protect consumers and workers as part of her 2026 address. The proposals include the new DIGIT office, which will “oversee digital safety and technological governance.”

Governor Hochul has already passed several laws to keep children safe on social media, regulate frontier AI model developers, stop AI companion chatbots from encouraging suicide and self-harm, outlaw AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and bring transparency to AI-enabled corporate pricing practices, subjects which the Duke and Duchess have long been passionate about.

In an announcement she made this week, she promised to keep focusing on protecting young people online, putting common-sense safeguards around AI, algorithms, and other technical advances “that can have unintended consequences”.

Harry and Meghan praised the announcement, adding: “It also begs the question of why the technology could not have been developed with safeguards in place from the start – so, individual states and countries would not have to clean up the mess piece by piece?”

The Sussex couple expressed their hope “to see leaders around the world follow in this direction,” and to take a “holistic approach” to the ways new technologies impact daily life.

Harry and Meghan said: “Leadership in the digital age looks like putting citizens first and focusing on how innovation can serve people, not put them in harm’s way.”

It comes just days before Prince Harry’s trip back to the UK next week.

The Duke will give evidence in his legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

The trial is set to begin on Monday, January 19, with Harry taking the witness stand in London on Thursday, January 22.