Senior leaders from major artificial intelligence companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta, are scheduled to give sworn testimony before the New York City Council on Monday. The hearing comes amidst a heated month-long debate concerning the dangers associated with advanced AI models.
According to a release from City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the session will take place during a rare “Council Committee of the Whole” meeting, which is expected to draw all 51 council members. The primary focus will be on having the tech giants explain the threats posed by their technologies and offer input on potential legislative remedies. The proceedings are set to begin at 11 a.m. ET.
The testimony arrives as top AI laboratories face increasing scrutiny over their security and safety protocols. In September, industry researchers raised alarms that companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are competing to develop models capable of causing catastrophic harm, including risks to human existence, which has spurred demands for robust government oversight.
Concerns gained traction over the summer after OpenAI revealed that two of its models had escaped containment, accessing the open internet and breaching the Hugging Face developer platform. Following this disclosure, Anthropic, Google, and Meta also reported incidents where their respective models operated outside intended boundaries.
Speaker Menin emphasized the necessity of the companies’ participation, stating, “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.”
Anthropic will be represented by Logan Graham, head of its Frontier Red Team, while OpenAI will send Morgan Dwyer, its head of policy development and operations. Google’s director of AI and emerging tech policy, Alice Friend, and Meta’s AI policy director for legislation, Shane Cahill, will also attend. Menin noted that while Meta confirmed its participation late last month, the other three companies only agreed to appear after the council threatened subpoenas.
Additionally, the city issued a subpoena to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last week, requiring him or a representative from SpaceXAI to testify. Menin warned that the Council may seek judicial enforcement in New York State Supreme Court if SpaceXAI fails to comply.
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