NEW YORK — Artificial intelligence insiders warned New York City's leaders about the dangers of the emerging technology on Monday, calling for greater oversight as local governments move to respond to mounting concerns that the systems could endanger humanity.
At a hearing of the New York City Council, recently departed employees of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind described a reckless culture at the firms, saying the biggest tech companies are racing to create technology they do not understand how to control.
"The companies run on a startup mindset: Move fast, break things, fix them later. That works for a photo sharing app. It does not work for building the most powerful technology ever built," said Jacob Coxon, a former engineer at Anthropic who has become a leading voice for regulation.
State and city governments have been considering ways to regulate AI as the Trump administration has taken a passive approach and Congress has proven inactive. President Donald Trump has dismissed AI fears as a "hoax" and signed an agreement late last month that spells out a series of voluntary steps for the companies to take and largely allows them to self-police.
An industry call for a slowdown followed Coxon’s warnings
Coxon was a little-known engineer at Anthropic until he announced his departure through a series of social media posts that caught global attention. He told the Council that AI could have tremendous upsides, but without transparency and safeguards, it's more likely that things will spiral out of control.
“On the current path, I think it is more likely than not that humanity loses control to these AIs and it could end in human extinction,” Coxon said.
Days after Coxon resigned and aired his fears of worst-case scenarios, top executives including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, SpaceXAI's Elon Musk said they agreed AI's development needs to slow down. AI companies have detailed steps they have taken to prioritize safety, but a coordinated industry slowdown faces several obstacles.
A panel of AI company staffers — representing tech giants OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta — also testified at the hearing in Manhattan on Monday, telling officials that their systems are already improving people's daily lives and stressing that they are laser-focused on safety.
Anthropic and OpenAI have said their advanced AI products need to be regulated, and company representatives at the hearing expressed openness to some of the Council's suggestions.
“I share your commitment to ensuring that technology is developed safely and that its benefits are widely shared,” said Morgan Dwyer of OpenAI.
NYC councilmembers press AI companies to quantify risk of catastrophe
At one point during the hearing, Julie Menin, the speaker of the City Council, asked each of the company representatives to “quantify the risk posed by AI in the worst case catastrophic scenario.”
Dwyer answered: “I don’t know — I also don’t think it matters whether it’s 1% or 10% or 20% chance that something catastrophic will go wrong. None of these levels is remotely acceptable. We should not train models that we cannot make an extremely strong case that we can keep under human control."
Menin slammed the response as “flippant at best."
“I would say that the percentage chance doesn’t matter. What matters is the commitment to safety, and that is what OpenAI is committed to doing," Dwyer said.
The City Council is considering several AI regulations, including proposals to require companies to disclose information about AI tools, require third-party approval for AI systems in the city and allow whistleblowers to receive a portion of fines from AI companies that violate laws.
Separately, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has moved to impose reporting and transparency standards around AI, as have governors elsewhere, though their power is somewhat limited since AI technology can reach across state lines, as well as the globe.
Logan Graham, of Anthropic, told the Council the company welcomes “smart regulation" and that state and local governments have a role to play in developing frameworks.
“AI is powerful enough that getting this wrong has real consequences, for individuals, institutions, public trust," he said. “We have to work relentlessly to do the science of mitigating the risks.”
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