SpaceXAI refusal triggers planned court action from Council
The New York City Council is convening a hearing on Monday on artificial intelligence safety, with representatives from four major AI developers set to testify as the body weighs several proposals for guardrails on the technology. The hearing follows weeks of warnings from technology industry professionals about AI’s potential dangers, according to United Press International.
Council Member Oswald Feliz, chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee, framed the urgency in terms of guardrails. “One of the biggest concerns is that there has been no guardrails created,” Feliz said. “Recently, we heard from the federal government, they basically stated that they created a committee of about 10 individuals so that they can self-regulate.”
Council Speaker Julie Menin said the federal proposal that AI would self-regulate “defies all reason” and that the Council will “urgently examine the risks posed by artificial intelligence.” In a statement, she added: “Given the high stakes, these firms owe it to the public to come before the Council, answer our questions, and provide input on our proposed legislation under oath.”
Of five AI companies called to testify, four are set to appear. Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI declined. Menin said the Council is planning to go to the courts, alleging SpaceXAI is in “direct violation of the subpoena.”
Set to testify on Monday are Logan Graham, head of Anthropic’s Frontier Red Team; Morgan Dwyer, OpenAI’s head of policy development and operations; Alice Friend, Google’s director of AI and emerging tech policy; and Shane Cahill, Meta’s AI policy director for legislation.
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon is also scheduled to appear. Coxon wrote on social media that AI poses a risk to human lives, warning that “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” His posts, which also criticized OpenAI, drew attention from other AI developers and, according to UPI, sparked broader industry discussion about the speed at which the technology is being developed.