New York City Council holds landmark AI oversight hearing

The New York City Council began a landmark oversight hearing on artificial intelligence Monday. 

The city says it is the first in the nation, and world, to hold such a hearing. 

City Council Speaker Julie Menin said that New York City needs to take matters into its own hands because the federal government said AI companies can self-regulate. 

"Both New York State and the state of California have both talked about potentially a kill switch. That's actually in our legislation as well. And that's one of the questions we have today for the companies. How would a kill switch work? Would that be effective?" Menin said prior to the hearing. 

The testimony includes whistleblowers like former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon, who previously said AI could destroy humanity by 2030. 

"We're approaching the point at which the AI systems will be capable of improving themselves, so, doing the research that humans were doing previously," Coxon told the City Council Monday. 

Four of the country's five major AI firms will testify about the technology's safety. Executives from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta will participate. One company not in attendance is SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk. Menin said after a subpoena was sent to the company, it responded with a letter saying they want to work with the city, but they won't be at the hearing. The city is now pursuing legal action. 

In a letter to the City Council ahead of Monday's hearing, an OpenAI executive wrote in part, "We test models for dangerous capabilities and concerning behavior, strengthen security, and monitor for failures of our safeguards."

Meta said, "At Meta, we are working to make personal superintelligence widely accessible so that it empowers people ... and safety is core to everything we do."

The City Council is considering 10 bills that will regulate AI in New York City.