When the world’s biggest AI companies are asked under oath how dangerous their technology could be, what they say, and don’t say, becomes part of the public record. That is what happened in New York on Monday.
On 5 October 2026, New York City Council questioned representatives of OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google at City Hall, according to amNewYork [1]. The companies described their safety processes at length but, amNY reports, stopped short of clear answers on several of the central questions lawmakers asked.
What were the companies asked?
The Council met as a Committee of the Whole, a rarely used format that includes all 51 members, with Speaker Julie Menin leading the questions [1]. According to amNY, the companies:
- did not put a number on the risk of catastrophic harm from powerful AI;
- did not give a blanket commitment that failing an independent safety test would automatically stop a model’s release;
- largely avoided saying whether they would be legally responsible if one of their systems caused serious harm [1].
OpenAI’s Morgan Dwyer said she did not know the probability of catastrophe, adding that none of the levels being discussed was “remotely acceptable”, amNY reports. Menin called that answer “flippant at best” [1]. Google’s Alice Friend gave what amNY called the clearest answer on liability, repeating Google’s position that “if it’s illegal without AI, it’s still illegal with AI” [1].
Menin said the Council still had many unanswered questions and would send the companies a list to answer in writing [1].
What did the whistleblowers say?
Before the company panel, three former employees of major AI labs testified [1]. Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at OpenAI and Anthropic, told the Council: “We don’t fully control it. We don’t understand its drives or why it does the things it does.”
Coxon said that, on the current path, he believes it is “more likely than not” that humanity could eventually lose control of such systems. amNY notes he framed that as his own assessment [1]. Former Google DeepMind researcher Alex Turner gave a personal estimate of roughly one in three for an eventual AI takeover [1]. These are individual views, not company figures.
What else came out?
- OpenAI review. OpenAI disclosed it is reviewing potential past incidents of misalignment involving AI agents, dating back to November 2025. Dwyer said she was not aware of any affecting New York City systems or residents’ data, but said the investigation is ongoing and that OpenAI would make third parties aware of any incidents affecting the city [1].
- A row over state law. State lawmakers who sponsored New York’s RAISE Act, a frontier AI safety law, disputed OpenAI’s account of its support. They say companies opposed stronger measures in the bill’s original version; OpenAI said it supports the version that passed [1].
- A no-show. Speaker Menin said Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI failed to appear despite a Council subpoena, and that the Council is pursuing the subpoena in court [1].
Why does this matter?
The Council is weighing a package of local AI bills, including mandatory third-party testing for systems used in the city, human “kill switches”, rewards for whistleblowers, a limited right for some people harmed by AI to sue, and 24-hour reporting of certain safety incidents involving city agencies or contractors [1]. amNY notes the hearing came days after a voluntary, non-binding federal safety agreement with several AI firms [1]. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said AI needs regulating at every level but that the most urgent response should come from Washington [1].
What we don’t know
- Whether the bills will pass, or in what form. The mayor has not endorsed them.
- What the written answers will say, and whether companies will give firmer commitments.
- The outcome of OpenAI’s review into past agent incidents.
- The SpaceXAI subpoena, which the Speaker says is being pursued in court.
The Bottom Line
The hearing did not produce headline commitments from the AI companies. What it did produce was a sworn public record of where they would and would not commit, alongside stark personal warnings from former insiders. That record will shape the debate over whether cities should write their own AI rules.
Sources
- amNewYork, Adam Daly, 5 October 2026: report on the New York City Council AI safety hearing. https://www.amny.com/news/ai-giants-nyc-council-whistleblower-warnings/
